Flemish Radio Choir, Marie- Josèphe Jude, Jean-François Heisser (piano duet), Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra/ Hervé Niquet Glossa GCD 922206 (2 CDs) ****

You can’t enquire far into the history of French music without encountering the Prix de Rome, the annual prize awarded between 1803 and 1967 that granted residencies at the Villa Medici in Rome to French composers. Debussy had to enter more than once to win it, and these two CDs collect together choruses and dramatic cantatas from his competition entries, as well as the obligatory works he had to send back to Paris (where they consistently upset the conservative adjudicators) from his sojourn in Italy. Debussy himself was quite scornful of the tasks involved, but the works he submitted help answer the question, musically speaking: who was Debussy before he became the Debussy we all know? See url.ie/5afh