Here from Avie comes another Lieder disc, following up on Kyle Stegall and Eric Zivian’s Schumann recital (10/19), where the instrument chosen by the pianist risks stealing the limelight. In this case it’s an 1830 fortepiano by Joseph Simon, which, Karim Sulayman’s own engaging booklet note tells us, he and pianist Yi-Heng Yang christened ‘Simon’ during the recording sessions.

And ‘Simon’ certainly has a beguilingly gentle and human sound – beautifully captured by the engineers. Yang, moreover, is superbly adept at bringing out the many veiled shades it can produce; the introduction to ‘An den Mond’, using moderator pedal, is wonderfully seductive. The two performers have also put together a superb programme, one that explores themes of being lost, alone and seeking solace and guidance in nature – but with a loose enough brief to incorporate a bit of fishing (‘Die Forelle’) and an excursion to the dark forests of the Romantic imagination (‘Erlkönig’).

Sulayman is always engaging, with an appealing honesty to his approach and a vividness to his storytelling (his ‘Erlkönig’ is powerfully effective). His light, silvery tenor is in many ways suited to much of the programme’s theme, but the flipside is a paleness and shortness of sap and sweetness; nor does the tenor’s German always feel entirely natural.

Adjust to the tone, though, and there’s still a great deal to enjoy in these performances, with highlights including a bright, sparkling ‘Forelle’, a delightful ‘Alinde’ and an enchanting ‘Nacht und Träume’. There are fine accounts of the substantial ‘Des Fischers Liebesglück’ and ‘Der Winterabend’, too, with the latter especially haunting.