Haïm's performances are light-footed and elegantly phrased and her mainly pleasing line-up of soloists is attentive to textural content and word-painting.

Haïm's colourful sense of theatre produces bold gestures and some hair-raising speeds. There are powerfully sensual performances from Natalie Dessay and Karine Deshayes but the choral singing is less consistent.

…while joyful exhortation courses through the Magnificat, Haïm's approach is not simply about sprung rhythmic gesture. She harnesses and moulds the solos with a kaleidoscopic scheme of voice-types, hand-picked for each movement… Again, it is the solo movements in Dixit Dominus which capture the imagination as they are distilled through Haïm's inimitable operatic flair and dramatic timings, where bite and allure sit in easy juxtaposition.