Originally published on January 18

One gem follows another on this excellent release as we spend some nights in Paris accompanied by a varied selection of charming and uplifting music. For seventy beguiling minutes, Les Siècles – its members sporting instruments for every era – and François-Xavier Roth thread seventeen pieces together that make for an irresistible sequence of tuneful and colourful ‘shorts’ that enchant or excite, whether by famous names – Delibes, Gounod, Massenet, Saint-Saëns, Waldteufel (a delectable account of his Skaters’ Waltz) – or from composers that posterity has been less than welcoming to, for each number proves enticing, varied in tempo and mood. It helps that the performances are quite superb, so too the tangible recorded sound, and that everybody is enjoying themselves, infectiously communicating to the listener their sheer pleasure in the chosen repertoire, rooted in stylish, exuberant and affectionate music-making. Fabulous! Bru Zane BZ 2005 is released on January 27.