Mel Bonis (1858–1937) lived a life worthy of a romantic novel: a gifted student at the Paris Conservatoire, she was forbidden by her socially ambitious family to marry the man she loved and pushed into a respectable marriage of convenience – only to rekindle the old romance years later. Best known today for her piano music, chamber works and songs, she also composed and arranged a remarkable body of music for orchestra in a refined impressionist idiom. This recording gathers some of the most captivating of these pieces: the strikingly modern Ophélia, a sly mélodie about a lovesick tomcat prowling the rooftops at night, a fiery Spanish gypsy waltz and a set of vivid orchestral dances. Full of elegant melody and shimmering colour, it is a well-deserved tribute to a composer whose voice is only now receiving the recognition it has long deserved.