The French Album - Fauré, Ravel and Poulenc

When he sadly died earlier this year, the great baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau left behind an amazing legacy of recordings. This CD features three relative rarities by French composers from the turn of the 20th century: La Bonne Chanson op. 61 by Gabriel Fauré, the Chansons Madécasses by Maurice Ravel, and Le Bal Masqué by Francis Poulenc. The music is performed by Fischer-Dieskau with eleven soloists from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, including the violinist Thomas Brandis, flautist Karlheinz Zöller, and the clarinettist Karl Leister. The pianist is Wolfgang Sawallisch, who although a highly regarded instrumentalist in his own right, is particularly renowned as one of the leading conductors of the time. Personnel: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), Wolfgang Sawallisch (piano), Soloists from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra