It is usually the audience that coughs and splutters; on this occasion it was the countertenor Andreas Scholl. Yet even when he is suffering from an allergy, Scholl's voice is the most beautiful instrument: pure, clean, sensuous. This performance, while not as impeccable as usual, still had its exquisite moments.

The mournful languor of the sound means that the melancholy of John Dowland suits Scholl well and, in I Saw My Lady Weep and Flow My Tears, every sigh and groan was poignantly measured. The programme was entirely English, and although Scholl's German accent was noticeable in his introductions, when he sang, the words were more clearly articulated than many a native English artist can manage. If anything, there was an overzealous precision, perhaps as a result of the sometimes awkward breathing required to help negotiate high phrasing when there's a high pollen count.

But Scholl is an expert storyteller and, in his folk songs and ballads, the timing was practised: the atmosphere created a sense of history re-enacted, but emotions were communicated vividly and immediately. The very relaxed approach of his lutenist Crawford Young, which risked losing rhythmic definition in the early Dowland songs, worked better in his own guitar arrangements of the traditional repertoire. It was noticeable, though, that Scholl's most expressive delivery by far - the tragic tale of King Henry and his dying Queen Jane - was unaccompanied.

The evening was not all gloom; Scholl's sense of humour was evident in the Ayres in which Dowland and Campion verge on the bawdy, and came through again in his sea-shanty encore. The question that crosses listeners' minds - is the countertenor his only voice? - was answered once and for all as Scholl alternated a sailor's soprano with an old sea-dog's colourful baritone. The caricature underlined just how remarkable his natural performing mode is.