In the Middle East, Fairuz is a legend, the one diva who can rightly be promoted as "the Arab world's most beloved singer", with a status matching even that of the Egyptian icon Oum Kalthoum. Fairuz is at least 70 this year but she is still performing, and this retrospective is a reminder of why she has packed out the world's concert halls.

Since she first emerged in Lebanon in the 1950s she has been feted for the intense, pained and personal quality in her work, like some Beirut answer to Piaf. The 15 tracks here cover much of her career, and feature songs by the famed Rahbani brothers, including her late husband Assy, and others by her son Ziad. She's at her best when backed by a traditional Middle Eastern band, with oud, qanun or Arabic string orchestra, as on the suitably emotional Yabki Wa Yadhuk (Crying and Smiling) or Ams Intaheita (Yesterday We Broke Up).

The western influences are far less interesting, from slushy orchestration to uninspired cocktail-lounge jazz, but her voice rises over the most mundane backing.