French soprano Sandrine Piau and pianist David Kadouch have released a new album presenting an engaging selection of mostly 20th-century French and German art songs, with a brief excursion into Russian repertoire. The collection showcases a blend of familiar pieces and lesser-known works, highlighting the expressive range and storytelling power of Piau’s voice.

The program includes settings by prominent composers such as Reynaldo Hahn and Maurice Ravel, featuring Hahn’s "À Chloris" and Ravel’s "Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques," rendered with delicate legato phrasing and a direct charm. Among the rarer selections are "Trois chansons de Bilitis" by Jeanne Bernard, whose music vividly illustrates intimate scenes like a kiss on a cheek or children playing in water.

One of the French highlights is Francis Poulenc’s late song cycle "La courte paille," which offers whimsical characterizations of subjects including a flea, an elephant, and Puss in Boots. The German repertoire includes Hugo Wolf’s song about a mouse, a somber cradle song by Alexander Zemlinsky, and Ilse Weber’s "Wiegela," a haunting piece Weber herself sang to children as they entered Auschwitz gas chambers in 1944.

In a separate release, Ian Page’s ensemble the Mozartists explore the "Sturm und Drang" movement, which thrived in mid- to late-18th-century Germany and emphasized heightened emotional expression in music. The album devotes only a brief segment to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, featuring an aria of jealousy from "La finta giardiniera" performed by soprano Alexandra Lowe. Lowe also tackles a demanding scene from Jiri (Georg) Benda’s melodrama "Medea," combining spoken word, intense vocalizations, and dramatic intensity.

Among orchestral works on the album is Joseph Martin Kraus’s Symphony in C minor, opening with a brooding introduction followed by powerful movements. Conductor Ian Page suggests this symphony could be among the finest from the era outside the works of Mozart and Haydn. The program also includes Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 45, known as the "Farewell," noted for its surprising harmonies and dynamic contrasts.

Both albums present thoughtfully curated repertoires that combine canonical and obscure compositions, illustrating the enduring appeal and emotional breadth of vocal and orchestral music spanning the 18th to 20th centuries.