At the beginning of this carefully planned recital, and spatchcocked between each group, both singer and pianist talk in general about performing Lieder, and Ian Bostridge explains why he has chosen this programme. The Schubert half is divided in three with settings by Collin, Goethe and Bruchmann. The second half is devoted to Wolf.

Bostridge provides silver tone and a fine line for the more lyrical Schubert songs. Nacht und Träume and An die Entfernte are poised and elevated. Even better is the great Wanderers Nachtlied II, where he manages, at a slow tempo, to create a feeling of timelessness. Willkommen und Abschied is suitably forthright. When it comes to the two famous narrative ballads, Der Zwerg and Erlkönig, some doubts creep in. It is all very well to make these into personal dramas, but sometimes the results are over the top, histrionic to a fault. The star here is Roger Vignoles, who plays both the awkward piano parts with unflinching panache.

Vignoles is to be praised even more for his intelligent readings of the complex accompaniments to Wolf, a matter he comments on during the course of the second half. Bostridge maintains an exemplary legato in a loving account of An die Geliebte and an inward reading of Gebet, but his approach becomes even further word-orientated in lighter pieces, notably Begegnung and Storchenbotschaft, to the point of mannerism. This critic might share the fate of his predecessor in Abschied by being kicked downstairs for suggesting that the tenor’s intention of turning every song into a mini-drama, with facial expressions to match, may be going too far.

He isn’t helped by Rodney Greenberg’s penchant for close-ups. Otherwise his video direction is prompt and sensitive. The sound picture is also admirable.