The ultimate curate’s egg. I have admired watching and hearing Vogt as Lohengrin and in Katharina Wagner’s important Meistersinger. Yet in this recital, Vogt’s distinctive light, soft timbre (a little what we used to call countertenor-ish) does not stack up well as Walther (nowhere near as centred as on the Bayreuth DVD), Siegfried, Erik and, especially, Siegmund. There is no lack of intelligence, sensitivity or preparation but of the requisite tessitura and sound quality. This is especially true in the (essentially baritonal) feel of Siegmund’s final outpouring of love for his sister and Erik’s plea to Senta, where the tenor is given a strange, 1950s pop-style recording. In Rienzi’s prayer, too, a combination of Vogt’s soft-edged timbre and a well-meaning attempt to keep the aria moving to make it better fit the weight of voice at hand, a very ‘poppy’ feeling results.

But the successes, where Vogt’s voice works well with the music, are genuine. They include that reflective central chunk of the Tristan love duet, thrillingly led by Nott and partnered by Nylund, both Parsifal excerpts (where the cries of ‘Amfortas’ are stronger than you might think they could be) and Lohengrin’s farewell to Elsa. Here Vogt is able to harness the (apt) wide-eyed innocence of his vocal delivery – something of a trademark – to the dramatic situation.

The tenor is accompanied throughout by Nott and his Bambergers with uncanny brilliance and style, not to mention a truly Goodallian weight of climaxes in Parsifal and Tristan. Time for more Wagner from them, please. Fine recording and balancing too, aside from one or two strange mic moments on the soloist. The Parsifal excerpts, however, end abruptly in horrid ‘bleeding chunk’ 78 side style.