Karina Gauvin is a remarkable Canadian soprano with a wonderfully fresh and firm voice. Francophone herself, she is ideally suited to sing this ambitious collection of French songs, perfectly supported by pianist Marc-André Hamelin. The title, “Fête galante”, is taken from the group of poems by Paul Verlaine, and here we have settings of some of them by both Fauré and Debussy.

The Fauré group includes three of the best known: “Mandoline”, with its evocative accompaniment; “Clair de lune”; and “En sourdine”, with its ecstatic close on the words “Le rossignol chantera” (“the nightingale will sing”), which Gauvin sings ravishingly. Debussy’s setting of the same poem is also included, but in this case it is the piano with its trills that illustrates the nightingale’s song. Gauvin’s performance of “Fantoches” with its gypsy overtones is also most memorable, and in the Chansons de Bilitis Hamelin beautifully exploits the originality of the piano-writing.

In Ravel’s Five Popular Greek Songs Gauvin also uses a gypsy-like timbre, bringing out the folk-like overtones and heightening contrasts. Here and elsewhere she regularly shades her tone in the most subtle ways. Moving on to Poulenc, both singer and pianist immediately register his much more volatile manner, with Gauvin’s diction ideally clear. “Paganini” could not be more brilliant, and it is good also to have here what is probably Poulenc’s greatest song to words by Louis Aragon, “C”, a lament for his country written during the Nazi occupation of France. In complete contrast, the Poulenc song from “Fête galante” is brisk and sharp, in cabaret style.

The Honegger songs with their jaunty rhythms also invite a popular style, with Gauvin singing with sharp attack. The final group is by Emile Vuillermoz, better known as a critic and musicologist than as a composer. “Bourrée de Chapdes-Beaufort” is a delightfully witty encore song barely a minute long, leading to “Jardin d’amour” and the final barcarolle-like “Cœcilia”. Altogether a most satisfying recital, not just superbly performed but very well recorded, if with the balance slightly favouring the singer.