Soile Isokoski has established herself as one of the leading Mozart and Strauss sopranos of the day. In this new recital she sings arias from seven works from somewhat different worlds, in all of which she has appeared on stage. Three long extracts, from Eugene Onegin, Faust and Otello, frame four shorter arias from Carmen, La bohème – Mimì was her debut role in Helsinki in 1989 – Turandot and Simon Boccanegra.

The best comes first: the Tchaikovsky would appear to be a role for which she is ideally suited. Her Russian diction seems clear and precise, the voice is admirably steady. On stage Isokoski has something of the melancholy and urgency that was typical of such Tatyanas of the recent past as Vishnevskaya and Cotrubas.

A few seasons ago Isokoski enjoyed a particular success at the New York Met as Marguérite in Faust. This role, like Violetta in La traviata, is unusually tricky, Gounod having composed music basically for three different kinds of voice. It must have been thrilling at the Met to hear her negotiate the Jewel Song with ease and then still have the power for the Church scene and final trio. On disc, the tempi she and her conductor, Mikko Franck, have chosen seems slightly cautious. The Bizet and Puccini items are pleasant enough, but it is in Verdi that Isokoski is able to demonstrate her dramatic skill. The hopeful, eager tones of Maria in Boccanegra, as she awaits her lover, contrast with the resigned, wounded Desdemona. Recorded sound is excellent. A nice disc, but it will be hard for Isokoski to cap the success of her award-winning Strauss recital (4/02).