On the Third of July 1822, Franz Schubert related a remarkable dream, one laced with Romantic imagery and full of deeply Freudian symbolism. In it, he recounts being invited by his father to a feast. Unable to enjoy the food, he’s banished by his furious parent and becomes the archetypal Schubertian wanderer, a man endlessly spurned in love. On hearing of his mother’s death, he returns, but is struck and exiled once again after admitting that he finds his father’s garden repugnant. Further loveless wanderings follow before he’s finally redeemed at a dead maiden’s grave and reunited with his forgiving father.

That dream is the premise behind “Mein Traum”, a brilliantly imaginative and remarkably cohesive program devised and presented by conductor Raphaël Pichon and outstanding French baritone Stéphane Degout. Ranging from vocal rarities and orchestral music by Schubert himself, to on-message pieces by Weber and Schumann, it’s performed with commitment and flair by Pichon’s choir and period instrument ensemble Pygmalion, and features delectable cameos by sopranos Judith Fa and Sabine Devieilhe.

The disc opens with an extended recitative and aria from Schubert’s never-completed oratorio