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Violinist Isabelle Faust has gradually become a star whose listeners will follow her even into unfamiliar repertory, and this release made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2023. Part of the appeal of Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo violin is that they seem sui generis; they are towering pieces that resemble nothing else and have no models. A number of composers also wrote works for solo violin, and Bach was likely inspired by some and inspired others in turn. These other works are occasionally programmed, together with Bach's works or by themselves, but they are not common for the most part. Faust offers a generous sampling, with no Bach and with a variety of largely unfamiliar composers. What emerges is that there were multiple traditions at work, French as well as German, and Bach, as was his way, synthesized them. It won't do to pretend that any of these works are on Bach's level, but they are attractive, and Faust is excellent at teasing out their idiomatic writing for a Baroque violin. Consider the Partita No. 5 in G minor for solo violin of Johann Joseph Vilsmayr, a student of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (who is also represented by a single Passacaglia at the end). This is a dance suite that seems to reflect Bach's influence as well. Physical album buyers will get a helpful booklet (although it doesn't explain the bizarre "Guiqß" movement title in the Vilsmayr work). Other composers included are Johann Georg Pisendel, Nicola Matteis Jr. and Sr., and Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, who worked in the middle 18th century; his Amusement pour le violon seul, Op. 18, inhabits a nonserious world completely different from Bach's but does show that the idea of a solo violin work was widely present. Faust benefits from Harmonia Mundi's Teldex Studio sound, which is close up without being noisy. Baroque buffs will definitely hear music here that they haven't heard before, well played.© James Manheim /TiVo

The Palazetto Bru Zane, the centre for French Romantic music in Venice, has an uncanny ability to rouse our curiosity for rare musical offerings. For each discographic release, the institution makes a point of indulging the listener, presenting them with only the very best: from the casting to the sound recording, not to mention the cleverly constructed programmes and the detailed illustrated booklets, everything is flawlessly produced. They essentially offer a first-class journey to the land of Romantic music. With Les Nuits de Paris, the institute once again proves it knows what it’s doing. At the helm, François-Xavier Roth and his ensemble Les Siècles take us on a dizzying tour of French society during the Belle-Epoque. At the time, the Parisian public routinely frequented dance venues—the upper classes went to the opera whilst the lower classes turned to cabarets, music halls and other “café-concerts”. Links were made between the profane and the sacred, the stylish and the mainstream. This cheerful disc sheds light on this entire dancing tradition. Alongside the great composers of the period (Massenet, Delibes and Saint-Saëns), the programme introduces other figures who were well-known in their time but have been somewhat forgotten today: Ernest Guiraud, Victorin Joncières and Ambroise Thomas. A special mention must go to Jeanne Danglas, one of the rare female composers to have been able to escape the patriarchal grip of the period.François Xavier Roth and his orchestra fully embrace the retro charm of these compositions, which might have been considered a little absurd if it weren’t for their radiantly joyful and deliciously playful performance. This is a wonderful journey through time. © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz

The Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and its Music Director Gustavo Gimeno present a composer portrait of César Franck. The album features the famous Symphony in D Minor, as well as the lesser known, but equally enchanting Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra, with Denis Kozhukhin as soloist. Born in Liege but raised in Paris, Franck synthesized Wagnerism with French musical traditions, resulting in a fine equilibrium between a voluptuous orchestral sound and audacious harmonies on the one hand, and lucidity and graceful charm on the other. While the three-movement symphony follows a from-darkness-to-light trajectory, the delightful Variations oscillate between symphonic poem and miniature piano concerto. © Pentatone

The prevailing wisdom about late Romantic French music is that it is inferior to the German model; a ridiculous notion, but it has proven very powerful in the way such music is received and evaluated over the course of musical history. One of the finest, most well-rounded talents to be found in French music during the transitional period between romanticism and early modernism is Gabriel Pierné, whose work begins in a post-Franckian idiom, picks up some elements along the way from impressionism, and, toward the end, adopts stylistic gestures from Stravinsky and the tart, pithy neo-Classicism of Les Six. However, in terms of formal development models and overall mood, all of Pierné's work remains faithful in its essentials to his initial contact with César Franck and to the group of composers within Franck's sphere of influence -- Tournemire, Duparc, Chausson, and Silvio Lazzari among them. The Belgian label Timpani is surveying the practically forgotten chamber output of Pierné, of which this, Gabriel Pierné: La Musique de Chambre, Vol. 2, is the second entry. Pierné's music is performed by members of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg under the general direction of pianist Christian Ivaldi. Pierné's single-movement Cello Sonata (1922) is like a chat with a brilliant conversationalist, moving forward in a sort of logic of its own but diverging from the path here and there. It is flanked by two cello pieces from the 1880s, and these are so similar to the solo sonata in feeling that one is surprised to discover that not all of these pieces are cut from the same cloth. The Trio for violin, cello and piano, Op. 45 (1920-1921), is an unquestionable masterwork, romantic in style but tinged with just enough impressionistic flair to make it stand out from purely romantic works of its kind. It is a very long Trio, lasting 41 minutes all told; the first movement alone runs 20 minutes and has some extraordinarily sustained passages of suspended harmony that keeps the listener on the edge of their seat. The second disc is made up of shorter pieces, most from the last years of Pierné's life. Special guests the Quatuor de saxophones de Luxembourg turn in a bracing reading of Pierné's Introduction et variations sur un theme populaire, written for legendary saxophonist Marcel Mule, which runs in its eight minutes from a deeply affecting slow section to peppy and invigorating finale -- it certainly could have run longer. Pierné's music did not contribute to the innovations of his time, but it certainly was never reactionary and he preferred to reflect the developments around him; the Impromptu-Caprice for harp could easily be mistaken for an early work of Gabriel Fauré, whereas the Introduction et variations sur un theme populaire is reminiscent of Darius Milhaud. Pierné's scoring is very generous and instrument-friendly, and although some of these pieces have appeared on recording before, they have never been performed with such dedication as they are here. If you like Debussy, Fauré, or other composers of the French school of the fin de siècle, then chances are you will also like Timpani's Gabriel Pierné: La Musique de Chambre, Vol. 2, down to its amusing choice of cover illustration. © TiVo

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This fourth album by philharmonie zuidnederland includes works by Darius Milhaud, Charles Koechlin, Duncan Ward and Edward Elgar. Duncan Ward takes you on a symphonic journey with Darius Milhaud’s La Création du monde for small orchestra, after which we fly to the stars in Charles Koechlin’s mysterious Vers la voûte étoilée — Koechlin had first intended to become an astronomer. We then travel further afield with Ward’s own Fumes ; Ward had studied in India with sitar legend Ravi Shankar before joining him in California. The album ends with Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Elgar portrayed fourteen of his closest friends in this enigmatic, humorous and moving work. © Fuga Libera