There’s a clarity and flexibility about Austrian mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert that makes her a natural when it comes to Schubert Lieder. An instinctive storyteller, she effortlessly inhabits the kind of narrative ballads presented here, from Gothic tales such as Erlkönig, to passionate outpourings like Gretchen am Spinnrade.

Rennert’s favourite song, she writes, is Des Fischers Liebesglück, an enigmatic love song where a fisherman observes the light in his beloved’s bedroom window shimmering like a will-o’-the-wisp (the word in German is Irrlicht, which Rennert pluralises for her album’s title Irrlichter). Such nocturnal phenomena, like the glitter of starlight on waves, or the moon shining through the branches of trees, offer a rich seam that runs through this beautifully curated, immaculately engineered recital.

The album opens with Der Zwerg, a grisly tale of a dwarf who drowns the queen who has spurned his love. Rennert’s way with the text is just right, avoiding the temptation to slather on the horror. She contrasts the tale’s dual...