As the daughter of his publisher, French composer Louise Bertin gets a mention in Berlioz’s memoirs – “One of the ablest women of our time,” he wrote. Our May Recording of the Month is a first chance to size her up, and what a premiere! Begun when she was just 20, her third opera Fausto is her revelatory Italian-language take on Goethe (Bru Zane BZ1054).

Despite its title, what we have is more Weber than Rossini, although there are bel canto elements. The orchestrations are highly original – snipers would accuse Berlioz of having written some of her music – and the  dramatic effects are bold, sometimes startlingly so. There’s no shortage of good tunes either, with Margarita in particular getting some real charmers.

The title role was conceived for mezzo-soprano but ended up sung by a tenor. In this recording, with period instruments, conductor Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques present the work in its original form. The cast too is outstanding with Karine Deshayes hurling herself fearlessly at Fausto’s challenging lines and Karina Gauvin delivering a Margarita who is no shrinking violet. Rousset is...