A winner at Operalia in 2009, Angel Blue is one of the top young singers on the ‘to watch’ list. For UK audiences she first stepped out as an exceptional Musetta in English National Opera’s La bohème, her charisma as dazzling as the brilliance of her soprano. By all accounts her Rosenblatt Recital at Wigmore Hall – the operatic half of the programme boldly included Adriana Lecouvreur, La traviata and Tannhaüser – was just as impressive but Opus Arte’s recital disc, recorded after the event in the studio, is only of songs, primarily a potpourri of popular favourites.

This is a voice of youthful refulgence and versatility. The lazy, sun-soaked melody of Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ glints with midday radiance. Three songs by Jake Heggie effortlessly juggle cabaret panache, bittersweet lyricism and Habanera-like fire. A couple of zarzuela numbers tingle with Latin flair (she received first place in the Operalia Zarzuela competition). Modern American songs by Bruce Adolphe and Carol Cymbala nudge convincingly into popular territory. Over the course of a solo disc, though, one increasingly starts to wish that the vibrancy of her voice could be turned down a notch. The songs on her programme – three by Rachmaninov, four by Strauss, all sympathetically accompanied by Iain Burnside – are continually under the full glare of the spotlight. In addition, she is not very communicative in either Russian or German, which may explain why the performances rely more on operatic heft than Lieder-like nuance. A shining future beckons for Angel Blue, certainly in opera, probably in crossover, too. As far as the song repertoire is concerned, the jury is currently out.