Compared to some of her fellows – Natalie Dessay, Annick Massis, Sandrine Piau, Véronique Gens – French soprano Patricia Petibon hasn’t made much of an impression here in the United Kingdom. Now that she has signed an exclusive contract with DG, that will no doubt soon be rectified. Here she presents an attractive recital of arias by Gluck, Haydn and Mozart.

Five are by Haydn. In her aria from Act 1 of Il mondo della luna, Flaminia sings that reason must yield to love. Petibon is bright and confident. In Eurydice’s dying aria from L’anima del filosofo she finds a quiet intensity; in the concluding aria to Part 1 of L’isola disabitata she captures Silvia’s confusion without quite matching Linda Zoghby’s nicely tremulous account for Dorati. A complete contrast is “Odio, furor, dispetto” from Armida, where Petibon brilliantly exploits the breathless short phrases to convey the sorceress’s rage.

There are excerpts from Gluck’s Armide, too, including a heartfelt air from Act 3. In the last scene, Petibon is mesmerising in the recitative – excellent support here, and indeed throughout, from Daniel Harding – before, again, bursting out in fury.

The Mozart numbers are not quite so successful. “Der Hölle Rache” from Die Zauberflöte is certainly fiery, but Petibon doesn’t sound comfortable with the language. In the first aria from Lucio Silla, a dry run for Konstanze in Die Entführung, the coloratura is not quite secure enough; and having Barbarina’s touching little plaint moving straight into Susanna’s “Deh vieni” really doesn’t work. Overall, though, this is a considerable success.