Only months after Nicky Spence’s superb new recording of Janáček’s haunting song-cycle (Hyperion, 8/19), here comes another account of The Diary of One who Disappeared. It’s not new – the album features recordings made between 1971 and 1977 – but marks the return to the catalogue of a performance of moving honesty and sincerity by Vilém Přibyl, longtime member of the Brno Opera ensemble and one of the finest Czech tenors of the post-war period. It’s a reissue that fills a gap in the discography as an important homegrown complement to Beno Blachut’s earlier Supraphon account (3/59).

Přibyl’s voice is superbly secure and characterful – and often very beautiful in its distinctive colour. The interpretation has a naturalness and dignity that’s different from the more expressionistic approach of recent British tenors, but is no less effective. Libuše Márová is a characterful mezzo soloist and Josef Páleníček’s piano-playing is vivid and poetic, although quite understated in the Intermezzo erotico by the modern standard set by Thomas Adès (with Bostridge – EMI/Warner, 10/02) and Julius Drake (with Spence). It’s a shame that otherwise admirably natural engineering gives the piano a slightly artificial sound, but one soon adjusts.

No Janáček fan will want to be without this in their collection, and the excellent couplings only heighten the appeal: a wonderfully noble account of Dvořák’s Biblical Songs and a touching performance of Smetana’s Five Evening Songs, a collection notably badly served in the catalogue. A very welcome reissue.