Over several decades, Pascal Rogé has gained the reputation as one the greatest interpreters of the French piano repertoire with his recordings of Satie and Debussy regarded as benchmark performances. On his latest release, Rogé is collaborator in a charming program of superbly crafted, elegant, and often witty music by the 20th century French master Francis Poulenc. Rogé is joined …

The St John’s College Choir Cambridge presents their second album led by their new music director Christopher Gray. At the center of the program are the atmospheric Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël by Francis Poulenc, and the heartfelt Three Carol-Anthems by Herbert Howells who directed the St John’s Choir during the Second World War. Other selections include the …

Cellist Louise Dubin is a renowned performer and champion of the music of cellist-composer Auguste Franchomme (1808-1884). Following her acclaimed album The Franchomme, which included world premiere recordings of works by Franchomme and Chopin that she discovered in archives in France, Dubin presents her new album featuring cello duos by Franchomme, Fauré, and contemporary composer Philippe Hersant with Julia Bruskin …

Andreas Ottensamer, who recently announced he will step down as principal clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic to focus on conducting, presents his latest album with pianist José Gallardo. Romanza features select movements from clarinet sonatas by Brahms, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Rota, and Joseph Horovitz. The album also includes Ottensamer’s own transcriptions of beloved classical melodies such as Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, …

Recent guests on Live from WFMT, violinist Paul Huang and pianist Helen Huang (no relation) present their second album as a duo. Following the critical praise for Kaleidoscope, the duo’s 2023 release featuring sumptuous Romantic Era works by Respighi and Saint-Saëns, Mirrors centers two violin sonatas composed during the Second World War. Paul Huang explains that both the Prokofiev Violin …

Following his acclaimed recording of the Saint-Saëns piano concertos with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, French pianist Romain Descharmes reunites with the orchestra for works by Fauré and Poulenc conducted by Michael Halász. The centerpieces of this all-French program are Fauré’s Ballade and the Poulenc concerto, the former graceful and serene with a flamboyant “Liszt-ian” finale, and the latter clever, whimsical, …

Following their acclaimed recordings of the complete Brahms and Beethoven sonatas, Bella Hristova and Michael Houstoun turn to French works for violin and piano, featuring sonatas by Ravel, Poulenc, and Fauré. Acclaimed as a player with impressive power, passion, and control, a beautiful sound, and a compelling command of her instrument, violinist Bella Hristova is an ardent proponent of contemporary …

Quatuor Van Kuijk explores treasures by Fauré, Debussy, Satie, Ravel and Poulenc that were originally composed for piano or voice. The program includes Debussy’s Petite Suite pour piano à quatre mains, Ravel’s famous Pavane pour une infante défunte and well-known songs by Poulenc, Fauré and Satie in transcriptions made especially for this recording by Van Kuijk violist Emmanuel François and …