Baritone seems to be defining himself as a specialist; this is his second album in a row, accompanied by pianist , following on a reading of the cycle. Here, he is unconstrained by the narrative of a true song cycle; , was assembled by a publisher following 's untimely death. The freer structure suits him well, for it allows the pure beauty of his voice to come to the fore. says that he listened repeatedly to 's recording of this cycle in his youth, and that is audible in the results here. If he doesn't quite have 's gift, yet, for the unexpected psychological insight, his control over the lengthy and sparse is impressive, and he successfully inserts a good deal of expressive space into familiar melodies like that of . once again gets top-notch accompaniment from , and it would appear that, like 's with , theirs is developing into an endlessly productive partnership. A strong outing from a young singer who is definitely one to follow. ~ James Manheim