When MEO reviewed this singer’s previous recital (Korngold/Mahler, 5/97) I thought he might have awarded a few too many minuses, but they seem all to be confirmed by this new one. Of course the recital is pleasant, and of course we must not expect too wide a dynamic or dramatic range in what is largely a programme of lullabies. But ‘this rather generalized approach, short of detailed response’ (MEO’s phrases concerning the earlier record) still limits the appeal. For example: even a Wiegenlied should be to some extent addressed, sung to that special baby in that individual cradle, whereas these (Schubert’s and Brahms’s) are as to the world in general and no one in particular. The vocal impersonality is curious, as the booklet has a photograph of mother and baby, and in a short written note Kirchschlager dedicates the collection to him. Yet when, in the Geistliches Wiegenlied, she sings ‘es schlummert mein Kind’ very little feeling of personal affection comes through: no warming of the tone or caress. Part of the limitation may lie with what in other respects is a virtue – the cleanness of style, with which she moves from note to note without any suspicion of what used to be called ‘slurring’. But what a difference just a little well-judged (and felt) portamento could make.
Curiously (again) she comes most to life in the songs not of her native language but in English. In The Little Horses and Stay With Me she might almost be another singer. And always she provides the pleasures of a fresh, well-placed voice, ably supported by her various accompanists. Sometimes, with the introduction of the guitar for Falla’s Nana, we have a sense of being moved into another room or hall, but it’s not troublesome. The programme itself is attractive and will make the singer some Welsh friends as she sings All through the night in their language. There are also Edelweiss and, less familiar, a 50-second charmer by Weber, Lass mich schlummern: the sales will no doubt be more encouraging than this review.'