The young American baritone John Chest has already received lavish praise in these pages. Tim Ashley described his contribution to the opening volume of Signum’s cycle of Fauré songs as a revelation, praising ‘deep commitment, flawless phrasing and an easy warmth of tone’ (10/16). Now, for his first solo disc, he turns to another autumnal master of song, Brahms, and to the nearest thing he wrote to a cycle, Die schöne Magelone – settings of the lyrics that are dotted like poetic markers through Ludwig Tieck’s sentimental medieval romance of the same name.

The virtues of Chest’s singing are still very much in evidence. The voice itself is both beautiful and immediately engaging, virile but distinguished by an appealing vulnerability and urgent catch in the timbre. His German is impeccable, too, his way with Tieck’s words natural, engaged and engaging. He’s matched by vivid, supportive playing from the outstanding Brazilian pianist Marcelo Amaral.

They offer plenty of Schwung as we set off in ‘Keinen hat es noch gereut’ and are properly melting in ‘Liebe kam aus fernen Landen’ and a lovely account of ‘Ruhe, Süssliebchen’, where the tender urgency of Chest’s timbre is especially effective. Both there and in ‘Muss es eine Trennung geben’, you can sense fully the protagonist’s longing, the sense of heartbreak.

As one would expect, this is very much a young man’s account of the cycle, and you’ll not yet find the same interpretative riches of a Gerhaher or Fischer-Dieskau in such songs as ‘Sind es schmerzen, sind es freuden’. Nor does Chest yet command the same ability to colour the voice; some phrases can feel pushed, too, and he risks running out of juice a little at the top of bigger phrases. But there’s a great deal to like here in what’s a fine youthful account of this cycle from a highly engaging and appealing singer who, I suspect, is only going to get better and better.