The music of Alexandre Tharaud’s native France has always held a special place in his repertoire and his Erato discography. His latest album, Mémoire, presents a meticulously conceived programme of 27 short pieces by 27 different French composers. Ranging from ‘greatest hits’ by Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Fauré to rare gems by composers hardly known outside France, they run in broadly chronological order, spanning the eras from the Baroque to the latter 20th century. For Tharaud, conceiving the programme for Mémoire was like assembling a bouquet. “It’s not so much about putting together flowers that outdo each other in beauty, but about finding flowers that are different and complementary.” Shifting analogies, he explains that “French music is both champagne and the kind of rough red wine that leaves stains … both foie gras on toast and a baguette filled with ham … both Versailles and Pigalle.” On a personal level, Tharaud has direct or indirect connections to a number of composers who feature on Mémoire. At the age of 11 he became friendly with Madeleine Milhaud, the widow of Darius Milhaud (who died in 1974). Then nearing the age of 80, she reminisced to him about such figures as Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Poulenc. Composers Tharaud encountered directly as a young pianist included Germaine Tailleferre, Jean Françaix, Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Wiéner and, during his time at the Paris Conservatoire, Jeanine Rueff and Marcel Bitsch. Composers from further in the past whose music appears on the album include Lili Boulanger, Bizet, Chabrier, Couperin, Delibes, Gounod, Hahn, Massenet, Messager and Saint-Saëns.