Performer: Ensemble Artaserse

The French soprano delivers an A-list performance as the Egyptian queen, donning a variety of Hollywood guises at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

The opening night of Müpa’s Early Music Festival had all the makings of an excellent concert and it delivered in abundance.

Philippe Jaroussky and Emőke Baráth's team-up with the Ensemble Artaserse proved nothing short of wonderful.

Jaroussky and his Ensemble Artaserse provide moments of sublimity in Handel's lesser-known opera arias

Considering how rarely celebrated diva Cecilia Bartoli appears in London, Wigmore Hall certainly pulled off a coup by making her duo concert with Philippe Jaroussky happen.

The countertenor voice seems to polarise opinion like no other - you either love it or hate it, there is little middle ground - and even amongst the aficionados (in whose number I count myself), there can be strong, almost tribal allegiances to one school or another and sometimes to individual proponents.

With a huge programme including many of the biggest names in classical music, one might easily drown in the Palau de la Música’s new season. We chart its waters...