Don’t expect high drama and showy vocals: Charpentier’s idiom is subtly understated, and the Latin texts…were intended to edify rather than entertain. Sebastien Daucé judges their tone sensitively in these chamber-like performances with a team of well-matched singers. It’s a treat to hear the sable-toned alto Lucile Richardot as the penitent Magdalene, the supple voice of Caroline Weynants as Judith, and soprano Judith Fa, a radiant Saint Cecilia.

This is superb. Here is a generous selection of sacred pieces by Charpentier, impeccably performed by Ensemble Correspondances under Sébastien Daucé, [...] underpinned by violins, recorders and those plangent viols. Do not miss these wonderful performances.

You can enjoy Vincent Huguet’s starkly beautiful modern-dress stagings on the bonus DVD, but the taut theatricality of these performances of Charpentier’s Biblical dramas comes across loud and clear through the audio alone; Caroline Weynant’s serenely assertive Judith and Lucile Richardot’s sensual Mary Magdalene are especially compelling, but every single singer is unfailingly invested in the action throughout.