In 1998, Roberta Alexander had already been exclusively associated with the Dutch label Et’cetera for 15 years and this had to be celebrated lavishly. This, of course, also included a nice present. A present for Roberta, but also (or mainly) for us, the music lovers and her big fans.

The idea behind the CD came from Alexander herself. She collected songs that her mother, also Roberta Alexander and herself a celebrated singer, used to sing at her recitals. The daughter faced an almost impossible task: which songs to include and which not? No, not easy.

Most of the songs belong to the ˜lighter genre”: encores, spirituals and arrangements of folk songs, and most of the composers, except a few, were virtually unknown at the time. The biggest surprise for me was Richard Hageman. Born in Leeuwarden (Netherlands) he achieved great success in America as a composer (his opera Caponsacchi was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1937), conductor and accompanist. His composition ˜Do not go, my love” on a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, is among the very best songs on this CD, and all of them are beautiful!

Actually, you should listen to this CD on your own (or with your lover), with a lit candle, a glass of red wine in your hand and your eyes closed. Roberta Alexander creates a very intimate atmosphere, she sings with restrained emotion. Moving.

Brian Masuda, her partner on the piano, joins in, leaving the listener simply spellbound. This CD can go with you to a desert island.

Because it was an anniversary, Et’cetera added another present: a CD with the highlights of the singer’s collaboration with her label: Roberta Alexander … a retrospective.

In the 15 years Roberta Alexander worked with Klaas Posthuma, who died in 2001, she recorded no fewer than 12 recitals for the company Et’Cetera, which he founded, including the one with songs by Leonard Bernstein.

It was recorded back in 1986, but almost 20 years later, in 2004, it experienced its second youth, as it was then re-released by Et’cetera as a tribute to its founder. Whatever the reason: most importantly, the CD was finally available in the shops again, because it is truly a wonderful recital.

I don’t know what the reason is (too American?), but Bernstein’s songs are still too little performed and too little recorded. A pity! They are witty and beautiful, and, if performed well and with a sense of rhythm and humour, – but isn’t that true of everything? – they give the listener tremendous pleasure.

Roberta Alexander possesses a lyrical soprano with a well- grounded core and a high dose of drama, which once made her exceptionally suited to roles such as Vitellia in La Clemenze di Tito, Elvira in Don Giovanni and Jenůfa. She had  previously shown her affinity with