Alexandre Tharaud: Le Boeuf sur le toit/Swinging Paris – review

(Virgin Classics)The ballet by Milhaud gave its name in 1922 to a Parisian cafe that became a centre of fashionable nightlife. The versatile pianist Alexandre Tharaud has gathered some friends together to demonstrate the range and atmosphere of this hothouse: Natalie Dessay sings a blues, and Frank Braley joins him for the heart of the disc, four glorious two-piano arrangements by Jean Wiener and Clément Doucet, which Tharaud has transcribed. The Chopin and Wagner parodies should perhaps be bur...

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