‘The East has taken on the form of a generalised preoccupation to the intelligence and to the imagination’, wrote Victor Hugo in his preface to Orientales in 1829. To the Romantics, the East was certainly much more than a geographical region - it was a concept, an atmosphere, composed of colour and imagery, the borders of which could never be clearly drawn.

While Ravel was able to reconnect with his family roots, Chabrier and Massenet discovered Spanish music during their long stay in the Iberian Peninsula. With 'Iberia', meanwhile, Debussy revealed his imaginary impressions of the Iberian world - his only contact with Spain was a short visit to Saint-Sébastien around 1880.

The works on this record, some of the finest French-Hispanic music, reveal the Belle Epoque taste for sparkling orchestrations and picturesque gaiety.