Ludwig presents them with disarming dedication and to hear the hackneyed Ave Maria sung like this is to realise afresh the beauty which all too often is jellied over with sentiment. Gervase de Peyer provides an engaging clarinet obbligato...the bouncing jollity is unbounded

Mostly recorded at Abbey Road in 1961, this treasurable collection includes a sublime Allerseelen that showcases Ludwig’s ability to spin long pianissimo lines to perfection (something which would stand her in good stead for her later Marschallin), a charmingly bitter-sweet Die Forelle, and a Gretchen whose subdued distress slowly builds to operatic proportions.