Popular though they are, the choice of items and their sequence in this recital are refreshingly unhackneyed, more than just a hit list of vocal display items...Persson's is, as always, a voice that makes you want to follow a musical and dramatic story, one that genuinely talks character and emotion to the listener. She is no brainless automatic canary...Recommended.

The lightness and grace of her instrument is revealed in Norina’s entrata in Don Pasquale, in which her switch from dreamy romanticism in the first section to pragmatism in the second is perfectly realized. Charm, innocence and accuracy mark her Jewel Song, whose accompaniment shares with all the others here the considerable strengths of the Swedish orchestra as well as the positives of Daniel Harding’s scrupulous musicianship.

much of the programme delights: Persson charms with Juliette’s Waltz Song and Dinorah’s Shadow aria, and gives us Giulietta’s solo (Bellini), preceded by its rarely recorded accompanied recit with horn solo. The famous duets — Delibes and Offenbach, with Katarina Karneus — are gorgeous.