The performances exquisitely capture the shifting nuances and moods of a programme with a French bias, yet decidedly international in spirit…There is no doubt here that Stéphany’s is a highly trained voice, but not obtrusively so…The Labyrinth Ensemble proves an ideal partner throughout with its wide range of timbres and natural pacing, the interlude of Ravel Introduction et Allegro being among the finest on disc.

The Anglo-French mezzo’s debut solo recording is a seriously class act, showcasing a richly coloured, beautifully even voice and bags of character – especially in Berio’s madcap folk-songs, where she has a whale of a time as a Sicilian fishwife!

[Folk Songs] can rarely have been as lushly and characterfully performed as here. Stéphany is an excellent linguist: Ravel’s Histoires Naturelles, in an arrangement by Arthur Lavandier, have the dry wit and sensuality of a Crespin devotee, and Falla’s Pysché is sumptuous.

Stéphany’s mezzo-soprano radiates warmth and substance, and Labyrinth bring lean and focused energy to a programme that begins with Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs...[she] makes mesmerising work of the lamenting numbers in various dialects...She is even more assured in Ravel’s Histoires Naturelles, which come up vividly in a new chamber arrangement.