Fauré: Requiem / Debussy: Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans / Saint-Saëns: Calme des nuits
This generously programmed disc provides excellent value and outstanding  performances of both major and lesser-known masterpieces of French choral music.  The Fauré Requiem has been recorded many times, and several excellent versions  of the original orchestration are available on disc. This one is among them,  owing to John Eliot Gardiner's experience and perfectionist mastery of details  overlooked by less-successful choral conductors. The real bonus here is the  inclusion of the popular but very difficult Debussy and Ravel chansons, and the  rarely heard but eminently worthy little part songs by Saint-Saëns. These pieces  are a lesson in how to achieve maximum effect with the simplest materials.-- David Vernier