Anne Sofie von Otter's reputation increases with each new record—no wonder she is in demand on all sides—so it is scarcely surprising that her first Lieder record is a source of great pleasure. She obviously owes some debts to both Ludwig and Fassbaender, especially the latter, but she nevertheless establishes a personality and style of her own. Technically her singing can hardly be faulted and she brings to her performance a nice combination of interpretative insights and emotional involvement. All that is at once evident in the four Wolf settings of Mignon's enigmatic utterances from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. The first exactly catches the sense of deep sorrow in poem and music. In the second her clear, steady tone, and carefully judged dynamics and vibrato reflect Mignon's bleak, grief-laden words with Rolf Gothoni providing just the right kind of insights one looks for from a Wolfian pianist. The repeat of the words ''nur wer die Sehnsucht … '' seems to convey all the woes of the poor creature though it is a pity von Otter needs to break the phrase with a breath. The charade and the premonitions it brings in the third song are also graphically delineated. Then both artists respond appropriately to the great challenge of Kennst du das Land? in a remarkably mature reading from two such young performers. I like the way that they then quite change character for the less demanding requirements of the next four songs before returning to a more intense manner for Gesang Weylas.
For their Mahler group the pair find yet another style and the right one. There's a nice touch of humour and wit in their account of the well-known songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Right away Gothoni sets the tone for ''Verlone Muh'' with his perky playing to which von Otter adds her playful, ebullient voice, yet both quite avoid that coyness that is anathema to singing this and the succeeding pieces. You would have to go far to hear such a sheerly beautiful account of ''Ich ging mit Lust'', where the singer's melding of tone and line is quite magical, as it is in the Leander setting, ''Errinerung''. The pianist's touch is just as compelling.
Then von Otter is to be thanked for reviving the seldom-heard settings from Molina's Don Juan, especially the alluring ''Serenade''. Again the readings seem to be precisely attuned to the music in hand. The single failure comes in the recital's final song, ''Wo die schonen Trompeten blasen'' which is taken at a debilitatingly slow speed, which neither artist quite sustains. But the failure is only comparative with the success that has gone before and isn't enough to deter me from a thorough recommendation, enhanced by the wholly truthful recording and Barry Millington's well-informed and illuminating notes. More, please.'