A popular choice for the audience prize at the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and a superb Sophie in WNO’s recent Der Rosenkavalier, Louise Alder has captured hearts in Wales and beyond. This disc of Richard Strauss songs comes at just the right moment in her ascent towards stardom. It’s grouped under headings such as youth, longing, loss, release. Some of the nearly two dozen choices are familiar, such as Zueignung, which she sings with unusual and touching introversion and contemplation. All are sung with vivid narrative skill, rich in colour and detail, and with a stunning purity of tone on long notes (as in the “Ruhe” of Ruhe, meine Seele!). Alder is beautifully partnered by pianist Joseph Middleton.
