Poulenc: Montparnasse | Marianne Lihannah (Mezzo) | Pete Rosser (Piano) by Marianne Lihannah published on 2018-01-08T20:12:43Z ‘Montparnasse’ 'Montparnasse' evokes the Montparnasse district of South Paris as perceived by an inexperienced young poet.' It took Poulenc 4 years to complete this song, which he considers as one of his best songs. From Poulenc's diary he writes: "Anything that concerns Paris, I approach with tears in my eyes and my head full of music". Apparently he was never at home outside Paris. Some composers are technical virtuosos, but Poulenc was a virtuoso of feeling, born at exactly the moment when French culture needed such a thing to make sense of its contradictions. Poulenc captures the atmosphere of the 20'es and the 30'ies from within. An elegant non-chalant calm becomes associated with Paris in this song, so much that one can almost taste it. The Apollinaire poem is self-reflective, expressing his own doubts about his poetic vision and his uncertain identity. He wonders if he will be like the pot plants in the lobby of his hotel? Pretty, but doomed to bear no fruit. Genre Classical