My music is my self-portrait,” said Francis Poulenc of his
works. The composer’s personality was as brilliant as
his music, which always contains something surprising,
a change of level, a contrast between the “great”
and the banal and between tradition and the avantgarde.
Hansjörg Albrecht presents three concertos
for keyboard instruments on his new CD of organ
music; he himself takes the solo part in the concerto
for organ, strings and timpani. In the harpsichord
concerto and the concerto for two pianos and orchestra,
he takes on the role of the orchestra, whose part
he plays on the organ. With this, he harks back to
performance practices typical of the early 20th century,
particularly in France and the USA, where “salon
organs” were often used in private salons for small
concerts, and avant-garde composers presented their
new works to an audience of connoisseurs.
The value of this recording is also enhanced by the
two soloists in the double piano concerto, the piano
duo consisting of Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen,
who have been counted among the world’s leading
piano duos for many years.