‘Crescendo’ is a puzzling title for Stefano Secco’s collection of Italian and French arias, given that he sings most of it at a pretty constant mezzo-forte. A ringing Italianate tone and the occasional sob in the voice give his tenor a distinctive quality, although he leans towards the stentorian – ‘Di quella pira’, for example, comes off rather better than ‘Ah, sì ben mio’ from Il trovatore.

Secco’s career has been established for a good decade now and he clearly knows how much of this music should go. However, his voice cannot always achieve what his musicality is telling him. High notes can be impressive when he gets there but the ascents can often be ugly affairs. In Rodolfo’s ‘Che gelida manina’ from La bohème, his scramble from E flat to A flat in the first word of ‘Talor dal mio forziere’ is effortful, while the high C on ‘speranza’ isn’t pretty. The climax of ‘La donna è mobile’ lacks elegance.

However, ‘La mia letizia in fondere’ from I Lombardi comes off well, as does a touching ‘Una furtiva lagrima’. Faust’s aria from Boito’s Mefistofele is another success, displaying a fine, open sound. French is not Secco’s strongest suit – no Carmen is going to fall for his Don José on the evidence of this Flower Song – but it’s good to have an aria from Halévy’s La Juive. Orbelian and the Kaunas City Symphony offer penny plain accompaniments.