French violinist Hélène Schmitt, internationally renowned for her work in the field of Baroque music, leads her audience into unexpected territory: the petites pièces by six female composers usually remain under the radar, not only due to their smaller form but also because, as women, their creators faced greater obstacles to establishing lasting reputations in the musical world. All the more rewarding, then, to experience these works – stretching from pure Romantic era to the breaking open of tonality – performed here with warmth and sensitivity.

The program of Ladies unfolds along a French-American axis. Appropriately, the recordings took place in the historic Paris hall of a female American patron of the arts. The choice of instruments was equally deliberate: as was still common at the time, gut strings are used, and the Steinway grand piano is a historic model built in New York, on which the French pianist Antoine de Grolée provides eloquent and empathetic accompaniment.

The accompanying in-depth essay by Hélène Schmitt provides fascinating insights into the biographies and working and living conditions of female composers on both sides of the Atlantic.