Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) symbolize the finest traditions of French music – clarity, mastery of form and elegance of expression. Saint-Saëns was the master of sensuous, colorful writing, likely to flare up in a blaze of virtuosity. Fauré’s art was more intimate, more subtle. Saint-Saëns was a world traveler, who captured the flavor and rhythms of distant lands in fascinating colors. Fauré’s music, apart from its unmistakable Frenchness, showed the imprint of classicism. In this album Saint-Saëns is represented by two excerpts from his opera ‘Samson And Delilah’ – melodies associated with the temptress Delilah which, appropriately, are the ultimate in musical langour and seductiveness. The insinuating rhythms of his Havanaise and the infectious exuberance of the Gypsy Dance from the ballet ‘Henry VIII’ are effectively balanced by the flowing Pastorale, adapted from the composer’s ‘Third Violin Concerto.’ The Fauré selections include his haunting Pavane and Sicilienne, with their evocative old-world aura, the melancholy Elegy and the tenderly impressionistic Berceuse and Clair De Lune, the latter inspired by the same Verlaine poem which brought about the Debussy composition. In paying tribute to the melodic gifts of these two romantic masters, Emanuel Vardi has created brilliant new settings for these ten masterpieces. Faithful to the form and spirit of the composer’s original writings, these settings are designed for a little more than “easy listening.” To be sure, they make delightful background for stimulating conversation. But our guess is that, with this music on the turntable, you would rather listen. For this is ‘Immortal Mood Music.’