Is anyone, by some small chance, familiar with this album? I'm intrigued by the programming.
The French seem to have been seriously into these collective compositions at a certain point.
I've had it since it was first released. The most successful collection of homages in it is, IMHO, the first such venture, dedicated to
Haydn. It's good to have the famous pieces of this collection (the
Debussy and
Ravel--the latter being the best of the lot, I'd say), along with the lesser-known ones (
Hahn's delightful pastiche,
d'Indy's
Menuet, the
Dukas plaintive
Prélude...). As the basic melodic material is the same (as prescribed by the commission), it's actually quite fascinating to hear how each composer treats it.
The
Fauré and
Roussel homages left a weaker impression on me (but the
Ravel Berceuse for violin and piano--in the former--is quite enchanting). IIRC, since both these sets have pieces with different instrumental combination--including, in some cases, singing--(as opposed as the
Haydn collection, which is for piano solo in its entirety), they also appear less unified (not that this is good or bad
per se). Still, I should revisit them soon.
Margaret Fingerhut's playing is first rate. Here's a very positive review from
Gramophone.
