The elegant French soprano does not overwhelm with vocal power or the grandiosity of her stage manner. Rather, she transfixes through the subtlety of her artistry and her stylish yet utterly transparent delivery. Throughout the evening, Piau’s voice was a marvel of purity and compact elegance, exquisitely shading the fragile beauty of Chausson’s “Sérénade,” the sorrowful resignation of Debussy’s “Beau soir” (“Beautiful evening”) and droll charm of Poulenc’s “Le sommeil” (“Sleep”). Yet for all of Piau’s stylish word-painting, she never fussed with the vocal line and approached the texts with admirable directness. She was sensitively partnered by the American pianist Susan Manoff, whose limpid accompaniment matched Piau’s singing in its understatement.

Source: Washington Post February 22, 2017 19:18 UTC