Poulenc: Concertos for Keyboard Instruments

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. Hansj�rg 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.