The Sweet Sound of Emma Kirkby (Decca)

And about time, too: superstar countertenors may be all over the classical charts like a rash, but the soprano Emma Kirbky has done as much as anyone to bring baroque opera in from the cold over the past 20 years. "Sweet sound" about sums up her voice, and it will undoubtedly be too sweet for some - like eating an entire tub of chocolate fudge ice cream in one fell scoop - but on her chosen territory of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi that extraordinary ethereality of hers is hard to quarrel with. Some of the best tracks on this CD, perhaps tellingly, are in partnership with others - a haunting Pergolesi Stabat Mater with James Bowman, and a delightful Laudamus Te from Vivaldi's Gloria with Judith Nelson - and the three English songs, by Purcell and Wilbye, which close the disc, are a joy. But take it in modest spoonfuls, OK?

By Arminta Wallace