What a peach of a disc is this tribute to the great 19th-century singer, pedagogue, and composer Pauline Viardot. From a starry family – her father was the tenor Manuel Garcia, who originated the role of Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, her sister Maria Malibran, the first lady of European opera in the 1830s – Viardot made her mark through what was by all accounts a beautiful voice paired with a fiery dramatic stage presence.

“One of the greatest artists who comes to mind in the past and present history of music,” Berlioz declared in a review of Viardot’s performance in the premiere of Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète.

Her life offstage was equally rich. Viardot surrounded herself with the most prominent artists of her day. Clara Schumann was a friend, George Sand a mentor, and Charles Dickens and Henry James were amongst those she invited to her salon. She also sang for Wagner in the first run-through of Tristan und Isolde.

Tracing her storied life and career is Swiss...