Chaminade's skilled, rarely less than appealing music was created not only to showcase her facility as a pianist but also to delight those who do not take their music too seriously, are unashamedly fond of easily digestible delights that can send an audience, feet still tapping, smiling from the concert hall out into the night. APR's invaluable selection includes seven items by the composer herself even if the lion's share goes to Australian pianist Una Bourne.
But where to choose, when virtually everything casts it spell? In 'Air de Ballet' the dancers prance and spin in brilliant array while 'Pas des echarpes'(Scarf dance} was understandably a favourite among all aspiring nicely brought up young ladies. 'Danse creole' is a charming attempt at ethnicity with immediate appeal, and who can resist 'PIerrette? Chaminade, fine pianist though she undoubtedly was, finds herself excelled by William Murdoch in 'Danse creole' who offers just that bit more affection, and also by Rudolf Ganz in 'Pas des echarpes' where the playing is more feely nuanced.
Mark Hambourg is characteristically exuberant in the once popular 'Automne'(though he is clumsy and over-emphatic in the central storm) but my own personal favourites come from Una Bourne in 'Nocturne(a beguiling backward glance at Faure?), Gertrude Meller, whose dexterity and vivacity in 'Air de Ballet' is exceptional, and finally, and most of all. Shura Cherkassky in 'Autrefois' trumping all aces with an elfin magic and pianistic finesse inimitably his own.
This record offers an invaluable insight into an easily eclipsed past and is very much for those who pride themselves on an inclusive rather than 'knowing' or exclusive outlook ('I prefer Bach to Rachmaninov,' a loud and clear comment overheard at a recent concert). APR's disc is complemented by Mark Viner on his ongoing Chaminade Piano Classics series and also by Stephen Hough who sprinkles a brief selection, like so much star dust, across several of his albums.
Bryce Morrison