Acoustical Systems, a German manufacturer of ultra-high-end turntables, tonearms, and cartridges, has sponsored the debut recording of pianist YuWen Huang. Recordings devoted to women composers are nothing new—there are labels that specialize in it—and Huang joins that tradition with an album representing seven well-known female practitioners active during the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, including Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Cécile Chaminade, Mel Bonis, Augusta Holmes, Lili Boulanger, and Amy Beach. The CD includes Mendelssohn’s substantial 20-minute Sonata, but most of the material is slighter stuff, undermining somewhat the plea in the liner notes to take these composers more seriously. Still, even the shorter works are expertly constructed. The two by Chaminade, her Thème varié in A major and Méditation, are especially affecting, and Huang plays everything on the program expressively but without sentimentality. The sound is exceptionally natural. The main microphone pair—Bruel & Kjaer 4040s—was set up in Row 3 of a 1600-square-foot auditorium, with gentle support from two Microtech Gefell UM900s positioned a little closer to the Yamaha C6 Concert Grand. Needless to say, a deluxe vinyl version is on the way.