Back in the 1980s, Harmonia Mundi France established their credentials as a label for connoisseurs with pioneering recordings by the likes of Philippe Herreweghe and William Christie that set a new standard for the performance of French Baroque vocal music with specialist voices. Christie’s series of Charpentier was a revelation and almost made the composer a household name – well, for sophisticated music-loving households that is. By the time he recorded this lovely chamber opera in 1995 he had jumped ship to major label Erato and was peppering his casts with singers with grander voices who...