You could argue that they're not strictly ballroom in the opera sense, but there's no doubt that these charming little songs and instrumental interludes written by Marc-Antoine Charpentier during his 25-year stint as composer-in-residence at the Comedie Francaise are of a theatrical bent: think sighing shepherdesses and naughty - some, in fact, seriously naughty - nymphs, and you'll get the idea. This is exactly the sort of 17th-century repertoire in which William Christie and his Les Arts Florissants ensemble excel - listen to the exquisite miniature Ah! qu'ils sont courts les beaux jours, and you'll be tempted to subscribe to the 17th-century French belief that music of this kind could cure melancholy, lovesickness and all sorts of disturbances in bodily humours.
