Kempe's recording of Ariadne comes nearer than any to conveying the sound of a small group of chamber players. Both instruments and voices are closely miked, which can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic but, aided by Kempe's excellent conducting, brings out a wealth of instrumental detail in all the right places. Small details which you might miss in other recordings are teased out of the general texture by the conductor, for example the open string chords when the composer asks after the violins, or the cellos' bathetic downward glissando at the tenor's first entry.

Generally this is a beautiful performance, and it is primarily beauty that we find in the singing. Teresa Zylis-Gara has the kind of soprano voice which is ideally suited to the role of the composer. It has a full lower register, with a nicely controlled, tightly-focused top. She is always poised, but this is a little at the expense of characterisation - her composer is comparatively reticent, and registers disappointment more readily than anger. The prologue also features a decent music master from Theo Adam and probably the best recorded music master from Peter Schreier, who has a fuller voice than most music masters, and who pays customary attention to the words, creating many original effects. As Zerbinetta, Sylvia Geszty has quite a dry tone and some moments of thinness; she also simplifies some of runs. In spite of this she is chirpy and enjoyable. James King is a heldentenor Bacchus, and sings most of the role with ringing tone. He doesn't exactly sound young, and he tends to sound more strained when singing quietly than when at full cry (not that much quiet singing is required), but all in all he is one of the best Bacchuses around.

But the chief attraction of this set for most people will be the beautiful Ariadne of Gundula Janowitz. Although she is one of the lighter Ariadnes, she is able to sing the entire range of the part with attractive tone, and her legendary ability to phrase Strauss's music is at its peak - vocally she stands head and shoulders above all the other recorded Ariadnes. Some people find her a little bland dramatically - certainly she does not make the role as overtly dramatic as Rysanek or Norman but she does, nevertheless, pay attention to verbal detail. She is also able to create an impression of the character which actually matches the way Zerbinetta describes her ('a face like a child, but what shadows underneath her eyes') - youthful and in a state of rapt inwardness. This gradually changes as she opens up during Ein Sch�nes war, and the love duet is suitably climactic.