It is now 13 years since Amanda Roocroft recorded two operatic recitals that I found so difficult to recommend, the first on account of deficiencies (as I considered) of expressiveness, the second because of a deterioration of vocal quality. Since then I have heard her several times in opera and concert work and not been reassured, though I have also heard and read many enthusiastic accounts by others. And now comes this song recital – which, in general, I find delightful. The voice is warm and steady, almost from first to last. Only on a few loud high notes – the high A in Tchaikovsky’s “Why?” is an example – does the raw edge obtrude. At times, as in “Befreit”, the evenness of tone is compromised by something that can hardly be called a tremolo yet the effect of which is tremulous. But much is quite lovely: in the Tchaikovsky group, for instance, the Lullaby, in Debussy “Le jet d’eau” (the third of the Baudelaire settings), and in Strauss the smiling “Glückes genug”.

Expressiveness is still limited. By all accounts, Roocroft has become a very good actress, and it may be that she has diverted her attention from vocal to visual expression. At any rate, not much pain finds its way into the voice in Tchaikovsky, while Strauss’s “Heimliche Aufforderung” needs an infusion of sensuality and “Cäcilie” an exultancy which it doesn’t quite get. The calmer and more tender emotions come most happily within her range. And this style of understatement suits the French repertoire best: the “douleur” of Debussy’s “Recueillement” is better served than the lonely heart in Tchaikovsky. In all three composers, Malcolm Martineau’s playing encourages a full involvement, and at all times voice and piano are well balanced in the recorded sound.