Dawn Upshaw here explores outstanding examples of the past century of French song, adding a brief detour into Spanish with a haunting gem by Osvaldo Golijov. The recital's centerpiece is Fauré's La Chanson d'Eve, a cycle of 10 exquisitely fashioned songs whose delicate subtlety and carefully weighed balance between light and shade are beautifully realized by Upshaw and her excellent accompanist, Gilbert Kalish, whose rippling piano in "Eau vivante" captivates. The pair also excel in the spare, mysterious "Crépuscule" (Twilight). Threaded throughout the disc are five songs by Olivier Messiaen, whose blending of spiritual faith and sensuous feeling often reaches ecstatic heights, as in the wildly virtuosic coloratura singing and keyboard demands of "Prière exaucée" (A Prayer Granted). Upshaw makes much of the sensuous close of the disc's opening song, "Le Collier," and the tenderly languorous "Amour oiseau d'étoile" (Love, Star-Bird). The elusive songs of Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis are given their full due as well, nicely set among Messiaen's more unbuttoned fervor. Upshaw fans and lovers of French song won't want to miss this. --Dan Davis
