This is the first operatic recital disc of the greatest lyric baritone of our time, indeed one of the greatest of any time. Everything is built… on superb breath control and a remarkable capacity for colouring the voice, combined with flawless legato, the principles underlying all great singing. Keenlyside becomes 15 widely differing characters on this disc, giving them more individuality than almost any other singer would. I have heard very few operatic recitals that could compare with this.

…Simon Keenlyside… starts with a fizzing account of Figaro's entrance from Il barbiere… This and Papageno's "Ein Mädchen" are the two light-hearted moments; for the rest it is a question of balancing moods between yearning, anger and despair. On the quieter side are lovely accounts of "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Hérodiade and Wolfram's song to the evening star from Tannhäuser. The biggest surprise comes in the three Verdi extracts, with Keenlyside finding darker colours in his tone. "Eri tu" from Ballo in maschera has a tortured grandeur, and even "Di provenza" from La traviata - both verses - emerges as freshly thought-through. Ulf Schirmer and the Munich Radio Orchestra provide fine support throughout.