Beth Taylor came to international attention as a grand finalist at the 2023 Cardiff Singer of the Year. Since then, she’s been making quite a name for herself, especially in Handel (she sings Cornelia in two recent releases of Giulio Cesare).

For her debut recital disc, she turned to the sea, to women composers, and to British music, although it also contains songs by Schubert, Alma Mahler and Hedwige Chrétien. Ending with Elgar’s Sea Pictures was a bold choice but one that pays off big time.

Clive Paget caught up with the Scottish mezzo-soprano and her half-Scottish pianist Hamish Brown to talk about choices, programming women and the shadow of Dame Janet Baker.

Cheeky question first. What’s more stressful, singing in the final of Cardiff Singer of the Year or making your debut recital disc?

Beth: Oh, boy! They’re very different kinds of stresses. The pressure of live performance means there’s always a little element of uncertainty, because we never know what’s gonna happen. You don’t have that with a recording. If you make a mistake, you can do it again.

I’m still getting used to recording as a job, but this was the first time I had a solid few days...