Don, anything for you.  I dug the CD in question out of my to-be
auditioned pile and am listening to it as I write.  He was a Russion
composer of French extraction.  He trained in mathematics and science but
found his true love in music.  He was one of the first people in Moscow to
be a Wagner enthusiast.  He studied with Rimsky-Korsakov, among others.
Although the program notes refer to Liszt and Alkan as major influences, I
find most of the contents of this disk to be just above the level of salon
music.  Stylistically, Catoire reminds me of a cross between Grieg and
Rachmaninov, or perhaps between Chritian Sinding and Mednter.  Hamelin's
performances are about as good as you can imagine.

I'm also reviewing his new recording of the Busoni Piano Concerto op.
XXXIX (sic) later this evening, so I'll post an impression of that as well.

Richard