What is 'French' about French composers and players? In these recordings we can hear virtuosity, tangy tone colours, and a sheer joie de vivre that can be missing from some more careful modern performances.Tempos are breakneck, especially from pianist/composer Francis Poulenc and in the Trio by Georges Auric; but there is a Debussy like sensuousness in Albert Roussel's Divertissement. The oboist in that piece is Pierre Pierlot, who can also be heard in the solo oboe part of André Jolivet's Sérénade, and in a Sonata by Jacques Hotteterre.

Two lesser-known composers here are Marguerite Roesgen-Champion with a delightful Pastorale; and Pierre-Octave Ferroud, with an original and virtuosic Trio. Other oboists featured include Louis Bas, Louis Bleuzet, Roland Lamorlette and Myrtile Morel.

Original performances of Poulenc, Auric and other French composers. Includes a 24 page booklet, with oboist and scholar Geoffrey Burgess writing about the milieu that produced this fertile outpouring of French wind writing and playing.

Artists

Roland Lamorlette (oboe), Gustave Dherin (bassoon), Francis Poulenc (piano), René Le Roy (flute), Louis Bas (oboe), Achille Gras (clarinet), Edouard Hénon (bassoon), Jules Vialet (horn), Erwin Schulhoff (piano), Myrtile Morel (oboe), Pierre Lefebvre (clarinet), Fernand Oubradous (bassoon), Jean-Pierre Rampal (flute), Pierre Pierlot (oboe), Jacques Lancelot (clarinet)

Paul Hongne (bassoon), Gilbert Coursier (horn), Robert Veyron-Lacroix (piano), Louis Bleuzet (oboe), Auguste Cruque (cello), Marguerite Roesgen-Champion (piano), Pauline Aubert (harpsichord), Louis Gromer (oboe), Georges Durand (cor anglais), André Vacellier (clarinet), Gabriel Grandmaison (bassoon), Samuel Dushkin (violin), Louis Gaudard (oboe), Maurice Marechal (cello)

Elie Cohen