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Beyond Debussy and Ravel the world ofthe French piano in all it's dazzlingvariety, and in critically acclaimedrecent recordings.Beyond a sensitivity to tone colour, verylittle unifies this eclectic list of Frenchcomposers, who flourished from theend of the Romantic era into our owntime. To move from the deft sketches ofReynaldo Hahn's Le Rossignol eperdu,and the scented harmonies of BenjaminGodard's Op.58 cycle of 20 Pieces, tothe introverted gloom of Les Heuresdolented by Gabriel eduard XavierDupont and the four-movementSolitude by Louis Vierne, and from thedense, Wagnerian counterpoint ofsonatas by Vincent D'Indy and PaulDukas, to the restless but crystallinetextures of the early Sonata by HenriDutilleux, is to stop off at quite differentstations on a map of creative work fullof destinations as distinct as any to befound on the Paris Metro.Critics have recognised that each of theartists involved has invested intellectualenergy as well as technical mastery inimmersing themselves within theseindividual worlds and personalities.Mark Viner captures Chaminade thepoet beyond and further than the saloncomposer of repute, as well asmeasuring up to Alkan at his mostsurprisingly charming in some of theEtudes Op.35. Emanuele Torquati lendsa more romantic sensibility to Rousselthan we tend to associate with him,while Sofia Andreoli shows that there isan impressionist side to Magnardbeyond the densely workedchromaticism of his symphonies andcantatas.
