Human inclination and critical duty are slightly at variance here. If the box or introductory notes had stated unequivocally, as may well be true, that the artists had given their services free then it would be churlish to review their performances with anything other than appreciative gratitude; similarly, if all proceeds from sale of the discs were guaranteed to go to the good cause (the German AIDS Foundation), then again one might feel that normal critical scrutiny should be relaxed. But, as far as I can see, these things are not said. The artists are thanked and we are told that ‘a contribution from sales’ will be made: but that is not quite the same thing.

And so this survey has to start with the observation that Angelika Kirchschlager, who opens the programme, catches nothing of Mozart’s Cherubino beyond his notes and words. She sings and enunciates perfectly well, but the play of light and shade, the moods and confidences, are left unrealised. Something of the same has to be said of René Pape’s account of the catalogue song in Don Giovanni: the notes are there, so are the words, and the voice is magnificent, but Leporello hardly comes into view. It won’t quite do to say that some loss of character is inevitable in this sequence of separate ‘numbers’, for singers can often illuminate a whole series of characters: not in these instances, however.

Among those who do manage to bring the full operatic context to life, the most impressive is Vesselina Kasarova. She, it’s true, has the longest of the extracts; but Charlotte’s Letter scene in Werther is a genuine dramatic experience. So is Paolo Gavanelli’s Prologue to Pagliacci. He, rather curiously, declines to provide the satisfaction of those full-voiced upper middle-register notes which Italian baritones usually have in such abundant supply, but he does give full value on the A flat and G and, throughout, brings a personal and meaningful touch to the more-than-familiar solo.

Good things and not so good might be said of the items by other sopranos, tenors and baritones. Adrienne Pieczonka’s Song to the Moon deserves mention, and Pape reappears, again in superb voice and with more expression, in the Toreador’s song from Carmen. But, if it’s individual performers we’re talking about, the first accolade must surely be reserved for Grace Bumbry. The great moment of the evening comes when at the end of Dalila’s ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre’ she plucks out of the air a lustrous high B flat. Her voice, at 65, is much steadier than, years ago, one might have expected it would be, and its quality is still in the luxury class.

Thrilling, too, is the Opera Chorus in the ‘Wach’auf’ chorale from Die Meistersinger; and exhilarating is the orchestra’s playing of the Thunder and Lightning Polka, with evident but unidentified sources of additional delight for the enthusiastic audience. It was clearly a great evening, and, one hopes, a proportionately profitable occasion for the cause.