Sergio Cervetti (b1940) turned 80 last year (his birthday fell on November 9) and remains as active as ever, evident in the most recent work here, the wholly electronic That Feeling of Power (2019), which closes this new release, the 11th Navona has devoted to his music. With its modified vocal part – underpinned by a sampled, ominous drum riff – That Feeling of Power is a fine example of his ability to communicate directly with his audience, here decrying the abuse of power by the few for their own material benefit, against the common good. The transience of all material things (not least life) is explored in Madrigal III (1975), a terrifically vibrant cantata for two sopranos and chamber ensemble, where the singers’ entwined vocal lines overlay a euphonious, minimalist-style accompaniment reminiscent of Reich and Glass. It is my favourite work on the album, evocatively performed.

The Four Fragments of Isadora (1979) and Childhood (2007) both have more personal derivations; the one a 22-minute song-cycle based on extracts from the letters of the great American dancer Isadora Duncan, the other a short aria for voice and electronics describing the feelings of a mother whose child has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. The range of emotion in the Isadora Fragments is by some way the widest of any work here, with expressions of love, tenderness and the intensity of grief: this last, in the third song, ‘Death of the Children’ (two of Duncan’s children accidentally drowned with their nanny in 1913), is heart-rending, reminiscent of the composer’s outrage in I Can’t Breathe (2014 – a presciently titled work from an earlier incident where Black Lives Matter). Cara Latham is audibly stretched in places in the songs, but this only underlines their expressive power. The performances throughout are strong and Navona’s sound is very fine.