While he did not compose any music of his own, novelist Jules Verne was musically inclined: he played the piano, sang with a fine tenor voice, and enjoyed writing verses to be set by his friend, composer Aristide Hignard. These Mélodies Inédites (Unpublished Songs) are products of the years from 1847 to 1863, when Verne and Hignard were still struggling artists from Nantes, and well before Verne became the successful author of Around the World in Eighty Days and other adventures. This 2005 world-premiere recording marks the centenary of Verne's death and was made possible by the Académie de Bretagne et des Pays de la Loire, which possesses the original manuscripts. Listeners who like French music of the Second Empire may find this collection delightful, especially because soprano Françoise Masset and pianist Emmanuel Strosser deliver the songs with fine expression and humor befitting the lighthearted and sentimental touches of Verne's lyrics and Hignard's music, which resembles Offenbach's in many ways. This is particularly noticeable in En avant les Zouaves!, the one song by Alfred Dufresne that closes the album with a comic bravado similar to Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein. Mirare's sound quality is excellent. ~ Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide
