Three committed and accomplished soloists – Caroline MacPhie, Damien Thantrey and Rupert Enticknap – move like priests or mentors among us, reciting and reflecting.

Special mention must go to MacPhie’s performance as Pamina. Her solos were breathtaking and she manages to convey the many emotions required for this part.

…Caroline MacPhie, Rupert Enticknap and Damian Thantrey, all excellent.

Her bright, light lyrical soprano voice… also has dramatic bite. The performance is imaginative and eloquent…

MacPhie sings with haunting sensitivity and emotional engagement… This lovely disc marks the arrival of a fine young recitalist.

Caroline MacPhie portrays a mischievous Barbara with clear high notes…

On stage, Caroline MacPhie did excellent work… both vocally and dramatically…

But my personal favourite was the Lancashire-born Caroline MacPhie. Her light-lyric instrument was clean-toned and perfectly tuned, and she delivered an enterprisingly original programme… with flair, style and musical imagination.

Caroline MacPhie, the only Brit, put over her material with far more dramatic verve than anyone else; her Cunning Little Vixen extract, sung in Czech, was especially gripping.

The real modernism came in a taster of Josephine Stephenson’s ‘Les constellations, une théorie’, bewitchingly articulated by Gillian Keith and Caroline MacPhie in perfect accord with Cottis and the orchestra – the most surprising highlight. All works were sung in their original language – Stephenson’s in excellent French….