She also gets away with the frivolity and virtuosity of the almost entirely unknown 15-minute work by Grandval (1676-1753), in which the singer attempts to please his/her audience by calling upon all the various styles and themes of music of his time: a plaint by Orpheus, hymns to Bacchus, cute love songs, vengeance arias, evocations to Hell, a plea to Neptune, a battle cry, and so forth, all done with on-the-sleeve passion. The piece is a tour-de-force of changing mood--almost psychosis, in fact--and Petibon strikes me as the only singer I ever want to hear sing it. She can be amazingly seductive, flipping into high notes or cooing like a dove. She must be dynamite on stage.

Most of the music on this CD is rare and that's almost enough reason to want it, particularly if the French Baroque is your cup of tea. It is wonderfully played by a group called Les Folies Francoises led by Patrick Cohen-Akenine, with the all-important winds present and gorgeously played (the woody oboes in the first number from Platee, the bassoon in an aria from Les fetes d'Hymen), the harpsichord audible and commenting on the voice at all times, the strings attacked with verve, the trumpets and drums bringing us to our feet. Try it, you may like it. In fact, you may love it.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com