Alma Mahler’s small output has provoked strong disagreement among listeners. The debate is no doubt exacerbated both by her controversial personality and by the fact that her extant music, written early in her full (some would say too full) life, is more reflective of artistic potential than of polished artistry. Still, it’s well worth hearing – and while some of these songs show up now and then in miscellaneous collections, it’s been a while since we had a recording devoted entirely to them.

This new release, apparently the first to include all three of the posthumously published songs that didn’t get into her Universal Edition collections, is therefore welcome – doubly so because the interpretations are distinctive. Elise Caluwaerts and Marianna Shirinyan largely resist the heated fin de siècle spirit that can easily overcome this music, often directing our attention to the ambiguous shimmers instead of the dark post-Wagnerian glowerings that are usually emphasised. Note, for instance, how sensitively they convey the intimacy of ‘Bei dir ist es traut’ or how hauntingly they respond to the poignant harmonies of ‘Licht in der Nacht’, capturing a desolation just this side of pain. They’re alert to the music’s shifts in direction, too (the emotional turmoil of ‘Ansturm’ is especially well handled), and invariably give a narrative shape even to songs that tend to turn static in other hands.

It doesn’t hurt that Caluwaerts has a pure, light sound, with a well-managed vibrato and far surer intonation than, say, Catharina Kroeger, the most recent singer I’ve heard take on all the published songs. Nor does it hurt that Shirinyan draws unusual textural lucidity from her 1899 Steinway, an instrument specifically chosen to suit the repertoire. What might hurt, though – for at least some listeners – is the performers’ penchant for measured tempos. Mahler herself leant towards the slow end of the spectrum, but by amplifying that preference Caluwaerts and Shirinyan sometimes dampen the music’s erotic fervour. Still, for its beauties – and a chance to hear the troubling ‘Einsamer Gang’, only recently unearthed – this superbly engineered collection is well worth your attention.