There is nothing very substantial among this disparate collection - the longest works are the overture written for the French version of Moise et Pharaon in 1827, and a massively scored Hymn, dedicated to "Napoleon III and his valiant people", composed for the Paris Exhibition in 1867.
But Riccardo Chailly charges everything with such vitality and stylish purpose that even the tiniest occasional piece lifts right off the page, whether it be the Metastasio setting Le Chant des Titans, the hunting horn-dominated Grande Fanfare, or the pastiche Robert Bruce Overture, put together from a variety of the operas by Niedermayer.
There are fragments of ballet music too, little morsels to which Chailly gives real flavour; the playing and singing are consistently glorious.
