Faure: Pelleas et Melisande Suite; Promethee (excerpts); Shylock; Songs on CD

This programme spotlights Gabriel Faure's orchestrated songs and his music for the stage, of which his suite from the incidental music for Pelleas et Melisande includes some of his best-loved music. Performances of Faure's spectacular Wagnerian drama Promethee are a real rarity, while the eloquent Shylock suite, based on Shakespeare, contains some of his most elaborate symphonic music. Faure orchestrated only a small number of his more than 100 songs, but these include the transcendentally beautiful love song Les Roses d'Ispahan with it's harmonic subtleties and gorgeous coda.