Twenty-one composers, with dates of birth ranging from 1764 to 1893, are represented in this always fascinating and sometimes revelatory collection of more than 160 pieces, from which only a handful of the names will be familiar to even assiduous concert goers and record collectors on this side of the Channel. There are works here by Nadia Boulanger, perhaps the most influential composition teacher of the 20th century, and her hugely talented sister Lili, who died at the age of 24, as well as by Pauline Viardot, best remembered as one of the greatest of 19th-century singers, and Cécile Chaminade, whose songs crop up occasionally in recitals. The music of Louise Farrenc, Augusta Holmès and Hélène de Montgeroult (the earliest composer in the set) has become much better known in recent years too, while Charlotte Sohy was featured in a CD collection just last year. But the remaining 13 composers are much less well known, and until recently many of them were hardly ever performed and recorded.
