Six singers, 11 instrumentalists and pianist Malcolm Martineau, the guiding force on this project, have united for the final volume of the 150-plus Poulenc songs, written over 44 years. The works here are for voice and various mixed ensembles. The opening Rapsodie Nègre (1917) reflects the young composer’s keen if naive fascination with the “exotic”. Le Bestiaire (the piano-only version appeared on Vol 4) sets poems by Apollinaire depicting among other things the “melancholy” carp, the crayfish and the grasshopper. There are more settings by Apollinaire and Max Jacob, including Banalités and Le Bal Masqué. Thomas Allen, Thomas Oliemans, Joshua Ellicott, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Ann Murray and Sarah Fox are all secure and idiomatic Poulenc connoisseurs.
