The novelty of this disc is the contribution of the Folkwang Guitar Duo‚ who provide the accompaniment for half the songs. This idea has worked for Schubert and others in the past and suits the simpler of Brahms’s folk settings‚ where the piano parts are so straightforward that the two guitars can play what is written without needing to make any changes. The effect is charming and rather delicate‚ compared to the red­blooded sound a piano can make in the same music. Unfortunately‚ Orfeo’s recording places LipovÅek nearer to the microphone when she is singing with the guitar duo and the close balance picks up the unwieldy edge of a Wagnerian voice (even if she has not sung Brünnhilde at La Scala as the biography in the booklet claims). The piano­accompanied songs – the more complex folksongs and the Zigeunerlieder‚ Op 103 – go better. The two sets of recording dates suggest they were probably recorded at a different time‚ when LipovÅek was in more flexible voice. These performances have plenty of vitality‚ but also a more sensitive feeling for light and shade‚ in which the singer is well seconded by her piano accompanist‚ Anthony Spiri. The eight short Zigeunerlieder have been recorded frequently before by singers from Lotte Lehmann (Romophone‚ 7/00) to Anne Sofie von Otter (DG‚ 4/91). LipovÅek stands up well to the competition‚ not least because she does not overdo the Hungarian earthiness‚ and Spiri has a clean­cut sense of rhythm. If an entire disc of Lieder with folk roots does not seem too much of a good thing‚ this one may appeal.