Michael Landrum: Nocturnes

In two discs, Michael Landrum covers two centuries of piano nocturnes from John Field (1817) through Jean Francaix (1987). Those who identify nocturnes with Chopin will will be more than pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of the remaining 32 selections (which include two by Chopin). This disc represents a feat of scholarship by Dr. Landrum, who has unearthed not only nocturnes by composers not especially associated with the genre (Bizet, Rachmaninov, Borodin), but glittering gems by composers quite unknown to listeners today.