Katherine Bryan’s previous disc, ‘Silver Bow’ (11/15), saw the flautist tackle a series of string works rearranged for her instrument. Two years later, and having moved from Linn to Chandos, she’s released ‘Silver Voice’, which – you guessed it – takes us to the opera house.

A collection of favourite arias is bookended by fantasies on two of the most popular operas of all, Carmen and – inevitably, I suppose – The Magic Flute. It’s not, however, a disc for opera fans. Bryan’s tone is powerful and well focused, if a little breathy, but she and her instrument simply can’t offer enough expressivity in ‘O mio babbino caro’ or ‘Un bel dì’. Her pallid account of ‘Dove sono’ makes Mozart’s great aria sound prosaic. ‘Summertime’ sounds far too prim and proper.

Things liven up a little in the Gounod but you can’t escape the fact that the trickiest coloratura, which creates a frisson when sung, remains too much of a doddle for a flautist of this calibre. Rusalka’s Song to the Moon comes off better, initially sounding as though it could be a discarded slow movement for the New World Symphony, as do a gently winding Lakmé duet and the Merry Widow ‘Vilja’.

Of the two fantasies, that on Carmen is the most interesting, that on The Magic Flute little more than an arbitrary medley, with a few virtuoso variations tossed in for good measure. Both are dispatched with aplomb. Chandos’s sound is excellent, as one would expect, giving Bryan a bit of a helping hand in the balance, but this is something strictly for flute fans.