Joyce DiDonato’s electric performances on her debut recital disc (Eloquentia, 2/06) suggest a concert recording, though there was, in reality, no audience present. This new disc does, however, capture the American mezzo live at the Wigmore Hall. The sparks fly from the opening set, Rossini’s La regata veneziana (the programme’s theme is Venice) as DiDonato seizes upon the songs’ operatic impulses. There’s a frenzied urgency in the second song, “Anzoleta co passa la regata”, for example, that conveys the intense excitement of the race and the passionate palpitations of the woman watching her lover speed towards victory.

Michael Head’s atmospheric Songs of Venice (1976) offer fewer opportunities for dramatic fireworks, and here DiDonato displays her ability to sustain a long phrase, sacrificing precious little in terms of textual intelligibility. Her voice is in fine form, too – vibrant, firm, with a tight, expressive vibrato and a slight breathiness hinting of vulnerability.

In Fauré’s Cinq mélodies de Venise, she seems to be studiously paring down her tone, and with mixed success. “Mandoline” is delicate and sweet, and the singer ably negotiates the wandering melodic tendrils of “Green”, but in “En sourdine” and “À Clymène” she employs straight tone that sometimes droops under pitch. Thankfully, Hahn’s Venezia finds her back on form. “L’avertimento” is perky, playful, and sexy ornaments of portamento adorn “La biondina in gondoleta” and “Che pecà!”. The loudly appreciative audience receives a pair of contrasting encores – a slow, heartfelt account of “Caro speme” and an exuberant, fiesty “Non più mesta”. Throughout, Julius Drake’s affectionate, finely shaded playing is an absolute delight.