Matshikiza’s fresh, even, iridescent tone is ideally weighted for Puccini’s Mimi and Liù…Rusalka’s Song to the Moon is glorious…[and she delivers] a gravely beautiful ‘When I am laid in earth’.

You would have to be a wally not to be moved by [Matshikiza's] Wally, whose ‘Ebben?...Ne andro lontana’ is delivered with simplicity and sincerity (listen to the wistful frailty of ‘O della madre mia casa gioconda’). Here, her natural ardour, the coppery sheen to her voice and its slightly covered top notes all come off well.

Rusalka’s Song to the Moon suits her lyric soprano nicely, though she finds a particular richness of tone lower down to offset her higher register. Her Italian is crisp everywhere in Susanna’s ‘Deh vieni non tardar’ but she attacks the recitative with particular relish. Her instrument sounds well throughout the wide range needed for Euridice’s ‘Che fiero momento’ from Gluck’s opera and she closes the disc with conviction, seeking out the emotional heart of Dido’s Lament.

The verismo arias — Mimi’s entrance number; Ebben? Ne andro lontana, from La Wally; Suor Angelica’s Senza mamma — reveal one of the most luscious sounds we’ve heard from a young soprano in years, and she sings words!

[Matshikiza] has versatility, range and huge personality. Her voice is rich without heaviness, capable of teasing lightness and flexibility, as the selection here demonstrates.