The Great French Songbook is less well known than its American counterpart, and is celebrated in Pianosong, where pianist Alexandre Tharaud recasts vintage melodies in a variety of formats. Charles Trenet’s “Vous oubliez votre cheval,” for example, gets a sparky jazz outing on solo piano, while Jacques Brel’s “Mathilde” (composed by Gérard Jouannest) is similarly juiced up with rat-a-tat piano chording and buoyant orchestral accompaniment. Georges Brassens’ “Les Passantes” acquires a mysteriously swirling string introduction, which haunts Tharaud’s soulful treatment of the melody as it unravels. Tharaud teases delicate nuances of sentiment and vulnerability from a second Brel song, “Ne me quitte pas,” and finds dark undercurrents in his slow-tempo take on Serge Gainsbourg’s “Le poinçonneur des Lilas.” Chanteuse extraordinaire Édith Piaf is also referenced, in Tharaud’s gently melancholy rendition of Francis Poulenc’s “Hommage à Édith Piaf,” and in his own wistfully heartfelt improvisation on the great singer’s 1950 recording “Hymne à l’amour.”