On track: A Swedish storehouse

By WILLIAM DART

Is there anything Anne Sofie von Otter can't sing? She can shine in a Handel trouser role one minute and lavish her vocal artistry on a Brian Wilson song the next. The Swedish mezzo's recording of Schubert Lieder in orchestral garb carried off a classical Grammy, and she has recorded the definitive Grieg Lieder album, rediscovered the elegant salon songs of Cecile Chaminade and revealed a wicked sense of humour in a collection of Offenbach's music.

Her new album, Watercolours, is a tribute to Swedish songwriters, 33 samplings from the country that is perhaps best known for Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, neither of whom is represented on the album.

Von Otter has played the musical diplomat before; her 1996 Wings in the Night centred around the songs of Wilhelm Stenhammer and Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. For the new disc, working again with pianist Bengt Forsberg, she has caught up with composers such as Lars-Erik Larsson, whose surging, passionate Kiss of the Wind opens the set, and Bo Linde, whose simple, unaffected English setting of May we be Happy closes it.

Performances temper perfection with affection; the singer even brings a cabaret flair to Ture Rangstrom's Old Dance, and Forsberg is, as always, exemplary. Listening to Watercolours is a humbling experience, making one realise how little one knows of such a rich storehouse of music. What a shame our only singer with an international profile has not lent her talents to such a project.

Carreras and Terfel gave us Tosti in their recent concerts; now Canadian tenor Ben Heppner devotes his new album Ideale to the salon songs of the Italian composer.

For those accustomed to Heppner in full Wagnerian helden-splendour, Ideale may be a revelation. There is neither strain nor straining for effect in these fragile, sentimental ballads, perfectly complemented by arrangements for a 13-piece ensemble, including a plaintive harmonium. A truly luscious experience.

* Anne Sofie von Otter, Watercolours (Deutsche Grammophon 474 700); Ben Heppner, Ideale (Deutsche Grammophon 471 557)