ROUSSEL: Promenade sentimentale, Complete Piano Music [CD de audio] Emanuele Torquati and Roussel

Albert Roussel (18691937) was ideally placed to develop a unique musical style. His career was more colorful than that of most of his fellow composers (he initially studied mathematics and worked as a naval officer before turning to music), while his early years as a composer exposed him to an avalanche of rich but contradictory musical influences: the impressionist movement (led by Debussy) and the more traditional approach of the Schola Cantorum (flagged by dIndy and Franck). Roussel absorbed the widely diverse styles he heard around him, mixing and modifying them to establish his own distinctive voice, a voice that can be clearly perceived in his solo piano music. Traditional musical forms are a frequent point of inspiration: in the Suite in F sharp Op.14, Roussel uses rural dances as a basis to explore both counterpoint and tonal disintegration, while the Bach-inspired Prélude et Fugue demonstrates the neoclassical style to which he was attracted in his later period. Above all, Roussel's piano music is characterized by its unique synthesis of rationality and feeling. This approach that explores tradition while pushing boundaries is masterfully captured by award-winning pianist Emanuele Torquati; Their subtle yet vital performances make this two-disc set a must-buy for any French music enthusiast.