Born Jeanine Marcelle Saunier in Nancy on May 29, 1929, Catherine Sauvage was a
privileged interpreter of old-time poets and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. After
discovering chanson through Charles Trenet on the radio, she moved to Paris and
began performing in cabarets, first at Le Bœuf sur le Toit in 1948, then at
L'Arlequin and L'Écluse. She took the name Catherine Sauvage in reference to the
Russian empress and a classmate. Her encounter with Léo Ferré was a revelation
that changed her repertoire, and when Philips artistic director Jacques Canetti
discovered her at the Trois Maillet...