Marie Hubert – Fille du Roy is the latest recording by the renowned Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin. This intriguing album brings the folklores of Quebec and France to life using song to recount the experiences of Marie Hubert, one of the Filles du Roy (the King’s daughters) intended to help populate New France. Recruited as one of almost 800 marriageable French young women, Marie crossed the Atlantic at the end of the program, which was launched in 1670 by the Roi-Soleil, King Louis XIV, and Jean Talon, his intendant in New France.

It was around 1825 that Louise Bertin, pupil of Reicha and friend of Berlioz, tackled the subject of Faust with all the energy and confidence of a young woman of twenty. She entirely exceeded the public's expectations and won over the critics with her daring. Colourful orchestration, charming cantabiles, vigorous choruses - everything seemed to promise the work would enter the repertory. But the closure of the Theatre-Italien after just three performances in 1831 decided otherwise, and the score languished in the vaults of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France for 190 years.