With concert halls, studios and airports closed the pandemic has forced Jonas Kauffman to downsize from belts and braces Otello and sumptuous Viennese tributes to something smaller and closer to home. So, he got in touch with his old mate pianist Helmut Deutsch and suggested they make a welcome return to their neglected Lieder repertoire. They put together a running order – “It’s our own personal wish list, you might call it an album of encores,” Kaufmann says.

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It had to be recorded in intimate private surroundings, which turned out to be a blessing – “You’re closer to the zeitgeist of these pieces”, he says. The pair picked 27 songs, mostly familiar favourites but with one or two rarities, including Alexander Zemlinsky’s Selige Stunde (An Hour of Bliss) and Alois...