William Christie was 80 in December, and this release is a celebration of the fact by some of the fine young musicians he has welcomed into his Les Arts Florissants family in recent years. Nice idea, and with players of the calibre of Thomas Dunford, Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Myriam Rignol and Justin Taylor, as well as current Les Arts Florissants leader Emmanuel Resche-Caserta and two young singers typical of the many Christie has been helping on their way for over 40 years, it certainly looks like a worthy project.

There are some delights here: a clutch of the frivolous French songs known variously as airs à boire or brunettes of the type LAF brought to life on record with typical interpretative wit a few years back, and charmingly sung by Gwendoline Blondeel and Juliette Mey; a violin sonata each by Senaillé (Langlois de Swarte recalling the bold musicianship of the earlier recording he and Christie made of this Corellian composer – 10/21) and Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (a brilliant and powerful piece, played with compelling swagger by Resche-Caserta and providing a strong case for thinking Jacquet the best of the French Baroque sonata composers); harpsichord duets real and imagined by Purcell, Handel and Couperin (two pulsing musettes getting stealthily faster) in which Christie and Taylor join forces as amicably as in their recent recording of Le Roux (10/24); and, to link things together, some mellow viol miniatures given solemn attention by Rignol, who then ends the programme with a short Marais sequence. Also worth a mention is the melting transcription for violin and harpsichord of Rameau’s already-sublime harpsichord solo Les tendres plaintes.

There can be few ensembles who could throw off a mixed French baroque programme like this with such flair, understanding and beauty, yet it makes for an odd release all the same. Rignol’s playing is not to be faulted, but there does just seem to be a bit too much viol music, its appearances between the other pieces too lengthy (and, in truth, gloomy) to maintain an overall sense of momentum. The presentation also leaves something to be desired; so OK, a conventional historical note may not be what’s required, but neither is the baffling interview with Christie which reads like an overheard chummy conversation, mostly about people you don’t know.