ABSTRACT
The journalist Denise Bourdet had the second wife of the playwright Edouard Bourdet, with whom Poulenc collaborates on his play Margot in 1935. This chapter describes a 'portrait-interview', which is illustrated by a photo showing Poulenc at the piano next to Denise Duval. Denise Duval wants to interview Francis Poulenc about Jean Cocteau's monologue, La Dame de Monte-Carlo, set for voice and orchestra by Francis Poulenc, which Denise Duval and the French Radio Orchestra under Georges Pretre premiere on 5 December at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. As for Monte-Carlo, since that's what they are talking about Poulenc used to go there with his parents from when he was small. For a long time Poulenc wanting to compose a vocal piece with orchestra for Denise Duval and find something to go with the main aria from Les Mamelles, "Envolezvous, oiseaux de ma faiblesse", which she sings superbly.
