“Bramwell Tovey conducts Poulenc: an enjoyable affair… Anyone who loves Shostakovich's jazz suites can't go wrong with this recording.”

Critics’ Choice 2023

**** Excellent Album

“… He [Tovey] seems to gaze into the soul of the Sinfonietta … a deliciously refined account of Les animaux modèles… Astonishingly vivid Chandos engineering on a 'big-screen' soundstage.”

“…Chandos collaborated with Bramwell Tovey for more than a decade and the music-making has his trademark naturalness and good humour. Not the most obvious farewell, perhaps, but in its avoidance of pomp and solemnity none the worse for that.”

Performance *****      Sonics (Multichannel) *****

“This is one of the most enchanting discs of Poulenc’s orchestral music that one could wish for. It is also a fitting tribute to the fine musicianship and inimitable style of the conductor Bramwell Tovey… The BBC Concert Orchestra are on sparkling form and respond unfailingly to Tovey’s direction with alert and characterful playing throughout this SACD. In all respects this release is an absolute winner – 74 minutes of captivating music performed with finesse and recorded in state-of-the-art sound. Who could ask for more?

“…here the late Bramwell Tovey has the full measure of these pieces, finding every ounce of their piquancy and weight – and in a recording in which in its forensic detail registers with total faithfulness. Tovey and the BBC Concert Orchestra revel in the charm, wit and humour of some of Poulenc’s finest orchestral pieces…”

“An excellent disc of some lesser-known Poulenc, very well performed and splendidly recorded.”

“… this is the final recording made by Bramwell Tovey who died in July. It’s a distinguished swansong, for he and a very responsive BBC Concert Orchestra have set down a really fine account of Francis Poulenc’s four-movement Sinfonietta (1948), such warm-hearted music if not without shadows, and also embracing wit and charm. Tovey and his players find much in this work … Les Animaux modèles (completed in 1942), easy-to-enjoy descriptive music of copious characters, unmistakably Poulencian in its twinkle-in-the-eye song and dance – charming, sparkling, bittersweet, urbane … some gravitas – performed with sensitivity, delight, pizzazz and generosity …”