What is startling in this recording is the power of initmacy, as entwining voices and instruments ensnare the listener...Jaroussky's sense of nuance is especially fine: he caresses words and gestures with a painterly delicacy...when singing with Jaroussky, Cencic allows their vocal timbres to blend gorgeously...Above all, the artists collectively adhere to the sine qua non of performing this repertory: seeming effortlessness.

Each singer brings his own individual vocal and expresive qualities to the fore in a solo cantata: Jaroussky is sweetly beguiling in Francesco Mancini's 'Quanto mai saro piu bello'...whereas Cencic's theatrical talent for gutsier declamatory coloratura takes centre stage in Porpora's 'Ecco che il primo albore'. The intuitive duet-singing works charmingly, not least becuase the adaptable Cencic sings intimately and softly in order to match Jaroussky's gentler timbre.

how well Cencic and Jaroussky work together...Their respective abilities in producing their tone and dispatching it through the intricate music are on a par with each other. The five instrumentalists...make attractive sounds, adding to the pleasure given by the singers.

the contrast between the two is wonderfully exploited in the duets by Bononcini and the cantatas by Conti, Marcello and Alessandro Scarlatti, in which Cencic calibrates his naturally more powerful sound to balance the dimensions of Jaroussky's voice. Christie, it almost goes without saying, organises perfectly judged accompaniments