Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria
Fritz Kreisler: Liebesleid No. 2
Gabriel Fauré: Après un rêve
Yoko Kanno: Our Little Sister (Movie Theme)
Camille Saint-Saëns: The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals)
Carl Nielsen: Moderen (The Mother), Op. 41, FS 94: Tågen letter (The Fog is Lifting)
Ennio Moriconne: Death Theme (from "The Untouchables")
Camille Saint-Saëns: Adagio from the Third Symphony
Michel Colombier: Emmanuel (Movie Theme)
Reinhold Glière: Valse Triste, Op. 35 No. 7
Michel Legrand: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life (from "The Happy Ending")
Robert Schumann: Träumerei (from Kinderszenen)
John Williams: Luck & Leia (from "Star Wars")
Luc Baiwir: Arioso Op. 16
Bill Conti: Mickey (Death Theme from "Rocky Balboa")
Sergei Rachmaninov: Vocalise
Johann Strauss II: Dolci Pianti ("Sweet Tears")
Stephen Sondheim: Not a Day Goes By (from "Merrily We Roll Along")
Johann Sebastian Bach: Air on the G String (from the Third Orchestral Suite)
Wolf Kerschek: It's Still Our Dream
John Williams: Princess Leia (from "Star Wars")

I never imagined that the French Horn (Cor Français) could be capable of projecting such an array of expressive touches. Greatly admired for its ability, especially in large groups, to portray stoic Wagnerian paragons, or to scale the heights of a Richard Strauss tone poem, it's nice to hear the horn ease into somewhat less epic material, and generate a more intimate sound.

Now mind you the horn, or any other musical instrument for that matter, is an inanimate object which requires human interaction in order to generate sounds, let alone musically expressive sounds. And that's where French horn player Hervé Joulain comes in. Within the booklet notes he comments that "the main idea was not so much to select titles from any particular instrumental category, but more to focus on works that have strong expressive power." And the diversity of genres on this CD, from sacred to soundtrack, certainly attests to that power. I will be the first to admit how surprised I was to hear the Ave Maria, usually assigned to a soprano voice, sound so well within the baritone range of the horn. Or to hear Hervé Joulain bring out the 'cantabile' aspects of Rachmaninov's Vocalise so well. Or how well he channels the sadness within the Rocky Balboa theme.

The variety of pieces on offer here is enough to keep you listening, but along with Joulain's sensitive playing, makes for a compelling collection.