Picked up some rare Poulenc stage work (5)
I believe the answer is:
opera
'stage work' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'picked up some rare poulenc' is the wordplay.
'picked up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'some' indicates a hidden word (some of the parts of the word are used).
'arepo' is hidden within 'rare poulenc'.
'arepo' written backwards gives 'OPERA'.
(Other definitions for opera that I've seen before include "Throw a rope for this show" , "Falstaff, say" , "eg Peter Grimes" , "Carmen, for example" , "Musical play" .)