Album: Campra, Charpentier et al, Musique pour Mazarin! – Le Jardin Secret (Coro)

Campra, Charpentier, Couperin, Lully, Carissimi, Pasqualini and Rossi vie for supremacy in this confident and attractively programmed recording debut from Le Jardin Secret, winners of the 2007 Early Music Network Young Artists Competition.

Cardinal, politician and patron of the arts, Giulio Mazarin was responsible for introducing Italian opera to Paris. Characterfully sung by soprano Elizabeth Dobbin to a rich accompaniment of theorbo/guitar, harpsichord, viola da gamba and basse de violon, the French songs have an allure greater than the more elaborate Italian cantatas. The brief instrumental solos are delicious.

Pick of the Album: 'La chasse donnée à Mazarin par les paysans des bourgs...'