There is something for everyone in this collection of Isabelle Aboulker’s most beautiful melodies: the passionate vocalises of Je t’aime, composed for the fiery Patricia Petitbon, sit alongside limpid fables by La Fontaine (The Crow and the Fox, The Lion in Old Age and more), while the unnerving eeriness of the merchant of souls in Au Marché de Saint-Paul contrasts with the light humour of the Savoir-vivre cycle, and the melancholy accents of Lettre d’amour make way for the irresistible charm of L’Inconstante. Isabelle’s prosodic clarity and voluptuous focus on the evocative power of words speak of a deep attachment to the legacy of French song composers. In turn impetuous or melancholy, this thrilling music knows how to aim straight for the heart.

Au marché Saint-Paul, j’irai – I Am Off to the Market Day
Chanson de la côte – Song of the Coast
Cheeky Little Tunes from Flaubert’s Dictionary of Received Ideas
Cher Pierre que je ne reverrai plus ici… – Dear Pierre, Whom I Shall not See Here Again…
Escale à Rio – Stopover in Rio
Je t’aime – I love you
L’Archet – The Bow
L’Inconstante – The Inconstant One
La Cigale et la fourmi – The Grasshopper and the Ant
La Femme noyée – The Drowned Wife
La Jeune Veuve – The Young Widow
La Princesse au petit pois – The Princess and the Pea
Le Corbeau et le renard – The Crow and the Fox
Le Lièvre et les grenouilles – The Hare and the Frogs
Le Lion devenu vieux – The Lion in Old Age
Le Loup et l’agneau – The Wolf and the Lamb
Le Loup et le chien – The Wolf and the Dog
Les Animaux malades de la peste – The Plague-Stricken Animals
Lettre d’amour – Love-Letter
Petites mélodies impertinentes, extraits du “Dictionnaire des idées reçues” de Flaubert –
Savoir vivre et usages mondains – Guide to Fine Etiquette and Wordly Manners
Tenir – Holding