To judge from the cover, this CD is designed to show off the skills of Natalie Dessay. In the event these bleeding chunks of Richard Strauss are more notable for the merits of the supporting singers than for Dessay’s contribution. There’s no doubting her technical prowess, but her tone sounds edgy and occasionally forced rather than sweet and bright in Zerbinetta’s long and strenuous solo from Ariadne, one of Dessay’s party pieces. She sings it with élan, but she hardly equals let alone surpasses several other Zerbinettas on this vocal tightrope in complete sets, simply because her tone can tire the ear.

That offering is placed before rather than after a longish excerpt from the close of the Prologue. She and Sophie Koch are quite touching in the quasi-love duet for Zerbinetta and the Composer. Then Koch in the latter role, neatly partnered by Thomas Allen’s Music Master, is properly impulsive in the memorable finale. Next come four of Strauss’s songs with orchestra that call for a soubrettish timbre. They are well but not outstandingly sung by Dessay.

The rest of the disc is devoted to ensembles from Arabella and Der Rosenkavalier. Two are distinguished by Felicity Lott’s lustrous singing and well-integrated characterisations. She is a suitably quizzical Arabella and a moving Marschallin, especially in the ‘gar nichts’ passage just before the final trio of Rosenkavalier, in which she, Dessay and Angelika Kirchschlager give their all under Pappano’s impassioned conducting. Earlier, in the Presentation of the Silver Rose, and in the closing duet, Dessay’s and Kirchschlager’s voices blend well enough, but neither makes enough of the text, and Dessay does not exactly float her top notes in the most advantageous manner.