The annual piano festival at 'Schloss vor Husum,' in Northern Germany, which started in 1986, is uniquely dedicated to Rarities of Piano Music. For nearly 20 years they have kindly released a highlights CD from the festival on Denmark's Danacord records; Husum is within virtual spitting distance of the Danish border. Many of the performers over the years have been household names, as have some of the composers (Ravel, Schumann, Chopin, Sibelius, et al.) Of course there are the lesser-knowns as well.

On this recording, from the 2007 festival, pianist Alex Hassan delights us with one of my favorite novelty works, Doucet's glorious, jazzy take on motives from Tristan und Isolde. It is a fun romp, guaranteed to put a smile on the face, and take just a tiny bit of the air out of the sails of some Wagnerians who, hopefully, will have some slight apoplexy at Doucet's sheer cheekiness.