Louis Fremaux

This is a beautiful example of long-gone style, panache, elan - old cliches in writing about classical music…but damned if they aren't fully appropriate here. The Massenet and Charpentier played by the Opera-Comique orchestra and Dervaux, in addition, provide that uniquely French tone color that has just about disappeared from the world long ago, a real treat for those who can appreciate it. The more internationally bland basic sound of the Birmingham group is transcended by the stylish and vigorous leadership of conductor Fremaux. It's been said that no recording of the Le Cid music has bettered it since, and having heard this recording once again after some years, I couldn't agree more. Beautiful stuff, beautifully remastered.

Hector Berlioz, France’s greatest Romantic composer, exemplifies the spirit of his age – yet his genius was also ahead of its time. Reflecting his colourful life, his music is astonishing for its originality and ambition, and for orchestration of groundbreaking brilliance. This, the first-ever complete Berlioz edition, comprises carefully selected recordings and even includes works completely new to the catalogue. The accompanying booklet, lavishly illustrated, contains a fascinating commentary from Berlioz biographer David Cairns, whose words bring the composer’s music still more vividly to life.

Chopin pieces enjoyed a prominent place in the early concerts of this French pianist-and when he began his recording career, Chopin once again dominated his attention. A longtime lover of jazz, Francois lent an almost improvisational quality to his interpretations; his performances, in particular, of the ballades and nocturnes are not quite like any other on record.

Over a remarkably long and illustrious career, Camille Saint-Saëns thrilled audiences around the world as a pianist and organist, shaped the course of musical life in France, and enriched a multitude of genres with some 600 works, all bearing witness to the mastery of his craft. Setting his best-known compositions in their dazzlingly diverse context, this edition invites exploration and discovery. It spans more than a century of recording history, encompassing a host of great instrumentalists, singers, conductors and orchestras, many of them from France. Setting the pace, in performances from as early as 1904, is the composer himself.