Soprano Emoke Baráth came on the recording scene in 2017 with a pair of albums that suggested a strong future in both early music and traditional repertory. She has continued to pursue both specialties and is an exceptionally versatile singer.

Baráth was born in 1985 in Kerepestarcsa, Hungary, and took up the piano at age six, later also taking lessons on the cello and harp. She did not start singing until her teens, studying first with József Hormai at the King St. Stephen's Secondary School of Music in Budapest and then Julia Paszthy at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. A third-prize finish at the Dvorák International Competition in the Czech Republic in 2009 set her sights on an international career, and in 2011, she moved to Florence for a year for studies with Leonardo de Lisi at the Luigi Cherubino Conservatory. Several more major prizes followed, and in late 2012 came Baráth's recording debut: the role of Sesto in a Naïve label recording of Handel's Giulio Cesare under veteran conductor Alan Curtis.

From the beginning, Baráth has pursued dual specialties in Baroque and traditional repertoire. She sang the title role in Francesco Cavalli's Elena at the prestigious Aix-en-Provence Festival in France in 2013 and, in the 2013-2014 season, took the role of Nanetta in the Budapest Opera's production of Verdi's Otello. That year also saw Baráth tour Europe as the soprano in Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232, in performances by Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski. She attracted the attention of and performed with other top early music groups, including the Accademia Bizantina (under Andreas Scholl) and Le Concert d'Astrée under Emmanuelle Haïm. She has also appeared with modern-instrument orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Handel's Messiah and the Liverpool Philharmonic in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and her range overall is wide; in her repertory are several 17th century opera roles and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor. The year 2017 saw Baráth return to the recording studio for La Storia di Orfeo, a collection of 17th century Orpheus pieces assembled by Philippe Jaroussky and a set of Debussy songs released on the Hungaroton label. She signed with the Erato label in 2018 and released the aria collection Voglio Cantar the following year, featuring music by Barbara Strozzi. In 2020, Baráth was heard on a recording of Handel's early opera Almira, HWV 1, on the CPO label, and in 2022, she released Dualità: Handel Opera Arias on Erato. ~ James Manheim, Rovi