Hege Høisæter spent 14 years in the soloist’s ensemble of the Norwegian Opera before her retirement in 2016 and has a special status on the Nordic singing scene – a stalwart who is still following the course of her voice’s changing capabilities (she is currently making a fine contribution to the Gothenburg Ring cycle as Erda), usually proving highly communicative in the process.

The composer Synne Skouen has a theory as to why that might be and outlines it in the booklet: Høisæter’s focus on text (here in Norwegian and German). It is what makes this highly personal recital a distinctive experience even if the mezzo’s voice is audibly lived-in and sometimes strays from the middle of the note. There is a desolate melancholy – a brooding greyness straight from the west coast of Norway – to almost all the music included before the expressionistic spray of Rolf Wallin’s Rilke settings forms a more ostentatious send-off. Høisæter demonstrates fortitude there and sensitivity elsewhere as she duets with tuba, clarinet, violin and cello but mostly with the ‘large and white silence’ as referenced in Jon Fosse’s Stone to Stone, as set by Kjell Mørk Karlsen in a cycle dedicated to the singer.

There is variance within that melancholy. Skouen’s Essay-Words is recorded right at the mouth, an intimate vocal monodrama in which Høisæter’s character struggles to stay above water. Skouen’s Memento Malin is harrowing in its directness, sparseness and real-life text (an offcut from the opera Ballerina, in which the two collaborated). Thomas Sleeper’s Triptych (the only work by a non-Norwegian) shows what colours Høisæter has access to in the lowest end of her register and the shadowy territories of Karlsen’s A Silent Wind are negotiated with theatrical interest. If you relish the emotional punch and desolation of a Petterson novel or a Strindberg play you will surely find resonance here. The singer’s own chirpy, gregarious introduction gives weight to the theory that Scandinavians are as the happiest beings on earth because they are so ready to open various valves releasing dark thoughts.