Volume 8 of the King's Consort's Vivaldi sacred music series gives the choir a rest and focuses on motets for solo voice and orchestra. The best-known item here is the Salve Regina, a piece which has been recorded on several occasions before, usually by countertenors. Vivaldi intended it for a woman, however, and here Nathalie Stutzmann is given the chance to show off the depth and dark nobility of her contralto voice. If she does not achieve the atmospheric beauty of her Nisi Dominus performance earlier in the series (Vol 6, 1/01), she nevertheless strikes a suitably reverential tone, one which King's orchestral accompaniment matches perfectly - the opening ritornelli of the first and last sections are both exquisitely done.

The other works are less well-trodden territory. The cheery hymn Sanctorum meritis is the kind of brief, functional piece which only complete cycles are likely to embrace, while the psalm Laudate pueri presents 23 minutes of attractive music without really doing much to set the pulse racing; its best moments here are an expressively throbbing setting of the words 'blessed be the name of the Lord', and an unexpectedly reflective Gloria with obbligato violin. Susan Gritton gives customarily accomplished performances of both pieces.

More interesting are Cur sagittas, cur tela - which shows the soul maintaining stoical faith in the face of attack by 'the soldiers of hell' (with violins exuberantly chucking the arrows of the title), before enjoying the protected world of the believer - and the disc's star find, Sum in medio tempestatum. This is a bright, unashamedly operatic number, opening with a classic simile aria comparing the troubled soul to a storm-tossed ship, and going on to depict the safe haven which hoves into view when one has turned to Jesus. The vocal writing here is highly virtuosic, but is negotiated with stunning agility and lightness by mezzo Tuva Semmingsen, a new name but on this showing one we should look forward to hearing more of in the future, especially in Baroque opera.

Another well-executed Vivaldi disc, then, from King, who with this series is showing that his good ear for the right singer is matched by innate sympathy for the music. As usual, the recorded sound is also just right.