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This mammoth five-disc set is a wide-ranging overview of Serge Gainsbourg's career as a songwriter, composer, and arranger. It also showcases his ability to make actual singers out of actresses and models – there are a few duets here with Brigitte Bardot, and others. Those who are encountering Gainsbourg for the first time will no doubt be intimidated by this set, it is a lovely package that moves basically in chronological order; but the three-disc De Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre set is more focused and a lot more affordable.

These 25 tracks demonstrate Debussy’s incomparable ability to create atmosphere, drama and beautiful melodies. From the much-loved piano music, including Clair de Lune and La Cathédrale Engloutie, to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces – La Mer, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Sonata for Violin & Piano – all are featured here in landmark performances.

Leave it to the French to show their cosmopolitan side with this wide-ranging five CDs that often resembles a whirlwind package tour of Paris. All in all, it's a spectacularly fun, occasionally chuckle-inducing collection.

As Rameau wrote in his treatise on harmony, “A good musician should surrender himself to all the characters he wishes to portray, and like a skillful actor, put himself in the speaker’s shoes.” Regardless of the means used to achieve this, the composer uses music and the interplay of harmony to convey feeling. This album on the Analekta label features bass-baritone Philippe Sly and soprano Hélène Guimette accompanied by musicians from Clavecin en concert under the direction of Luc Beauséjour.