"French-Canadian Marie-Nicole Lemieux stands alone as a real contralto ... Lemieux, in a not-very-showoffy manner, is a knockout ... The voice is warm and rich and is used brilliantly to show off its colors. At least half of the arias recorded here are rarities: the familiar ones: 'Che faro' from Gluck's Orfeo, 'Voi, che sapete' from Mozart's Figaro, to name two - are well done ... The others are ear-openers ... This is a great program from a great singer, and Labadie's direction of the remarkable Les Violons du Roy is no less grand".