Schumann was by no means the only composer obsessed with Robert Burns but no one caught the Scot’s sentiments more vividly, even via German translation. Bernarda Fink’s selection of six highly evocative songs from Myrthen immediately grabs the ear, from the drama of “Hauptmanns Weib” to the widow’s terror in “Die Hochlander-Witwe”, though Dorothea Röschmann reaches a higher pitch of hysteria – literally – here. The soprano is also glorious in the Highland lullaby, while Mitsuko Shirai is uniquely compelling in “Im Westen”. And while Nathalie Stutzmann brings her distinctive timbres to both Myrthen and the Maria Stuart songs (setting poems said to be by Mary Queen of Scots herself), her readings are altogether less detailed and less wide-ranging than Fink’s.

The Maria Stuart songs came out of an otherwise disastrous year for Schumann, and were his extraordinary farewell to the song-cycle; Banse on Hyperion is more sheerly gorgeous of tone but Fink lays bare the pain of both poet and composer, sensitively supported by Anthony Spiri. Rare glimpses of warmth, such as in “Abschied von der Welt”, where the poet seems to have made peace with her fate, are beautifully conveyed, even if it’s a fleeting comfort, overcome by the cry of “O Gott” that opens the final song. Here Fink is rawer than Banse, leaving the listener unnerved. After such emotional pain, balm is needed, and Fink shows her experience in programme-building by offering precisely that in the Rückert settings, ending with the rapturous “Mein schöner Stern!”.

There’s little space to discuss her Liederkreis, which is a much more successful reading than the one from Marie-Nicole Lemieux (see above). Of modern interpretations, no one is quite as serenely beautiful as Isokoski, and personally I prefer a slightly pacier “Waldesgespräch”, but Fink’s “Mondnacht” is compelling and in “Zwielicht” she grasps your attention as only the greatest of Lieder singers can do.

There is just one niggle about Harmonia Mundi’s otherwise flawless production: a CD sleeve design that leaves no space for the booklet. It’s an irritating trend.