The seductive voice of Marion Rampal and an ensemble of superb musicians present a thrilling programme of subversive Brecht-inspired songs and music from 1920s Germany.

Rampal manages to offer something different to anything I’ve heard before. Much of this derives from the unusual nature of her accompaniment, a mixture of string quartet and Raphael Imbert’s raspy, bluesy sax and bass clarinet. Rampal’s delivery is free, underplaying gritty Weimar-ese in favour of something one moment gently and wistfully Gallic, the next offering something almost wildly expressionistic…A strange, often haunting album, then, but certainly not one for purists.

The mood is smoke-filled dives and The Blue Angel. A must listen: Paul Hindemith’s arrangement of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman overture for string quartet which sounds as if the sea is laced with rum. Collaborator Raphaël Imbert interjects with bluesy persuasion on saxophone and bass clarinet.

Eloquence never strays from the instrumentalists of the Quatuor Manfred, at its best in movements by Kurt Weill and the magpie-minded Erwin Schulhoff, but the sleazy, atmospheric contributions of the saxophonist Raphaël Imbert often twist items out of shape...As for Rampal’s voice, it’s a strange and often bewitching creature...but she’s attractively multicoloured and beguilingly direct in Weill’s Youkali (her best track).