Isokoski begins with disarming lightness of touch...It's easy to forget that, at its core, this is a rich, almost heroic voice, modulating its way with seeming effortlessness through the bigger numbers at the heart of the recital...Isokoski's technique has stood the test of time...Viitasalo is clearly supportive...but more of an accompanist than an equal partner.

As always with Isokoski, one either finds a certain humanity in her less-than-rounded tones - or not. Such positive qualities burn from within during songs such as 'Zueignung' and 'Morgen!'...and especially in the lesser-known 'Befreit', a performance whose subtle empathy is a summation of what has always made Isokoski such an endearing figure on the operatic landscape.

a feat of some of Strauss's greatest solo songs, all sung with high intelligence, in impeccable German, in beautiful sound (the piano especially sympathetic, well-rounded), with accompaniments from Marita Viitasalo impeccably groomed, seldom obtrusive let alone assertive, and perhaps all the better for that...Isokoski does not always seek to cultivate the voice beautiful...She is adept at picking up every nuance

The intense, silvered beauty of her tone — less peachy and voluptuous than Fleming’s — and the unmannered clarity of her diction are unique in this music today...The strange Ophelia set, rarely programmed, can never have been more sumptuously sung.