Karina Gauvin and Marin Alsop take a nostalgic view of Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Theirs is clearly an adult’s bittersweet reminiscence rather than a child’s innocent view. The outer sections sway slowly, the phrases longingly caressed as if both the soprano and the orchestra were loath to let them go. Gauvin sings smoothly, generally emphasising song over text, though she is alive to James Agee’s fragrant imagery and varies the colour of her voice appropriately. What impressed me most about Gauvin’s performance, however – aside from her glossy, creamy tone – is its rhythmic assurance. With deeply expressive playing from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the result is ravishing. Dawn Upshaw and Leontyne Price both characterise more vividly still, but this is one of the finest versions of Knoxville to date.

Alsop’s tautly argued Second Essay is equally satisfying. She wisely resists the temptation to stretch the tempo at climactic moments, creating a strong sense of momentum; one feels swept along by the music’s powerful current. The lean sonority she elicits from the RSNO also suits, though it’s slightly less convincing in the Third Essay, where the lyrical passages need the cinematic lushness one gets in Slatkin’s superbly engineered EMI recording from St Louis.

Actually, Knoxville and the Essays (all recorded in Glasgow’s Henry Wood Hall) pack a nice sonic punch on this disc, too. If only Thomas Trotter’s brilliant execution of the solo organ part in the Toccata Festiva were recorded with greater presence than the acoustic of Paisley Abbey allows. The Toccata may not be top-drawer Barber, but it has its moments, as a Cedille CD with David Schrader demonstrates. Nevertheless, Alsop’s ear-opening Barber series reaches a new high-point with this instalment. Strongly recommended.