I’m sure there’ll be a lot of “O don fatal” and similar powerhouse mezzo performances this month, but a mezzo can also be an intelligent singer with an elegant and pliable voice that is even in all registers and as much at home in the salon as on the stage.

I have chosen “Våren” (The Spring) which is one of my favorite Grieg songs and which is sung perfectly by Anne Sofie von Otter (the whole album is great). My mother would sing Våren also, so I have a soft spot for it. I could have chosen many other recordings (like her Strauss lieder) — my husband would have chosen something from For the Stars, one of the best cross over albums ever (with her and Elvis Costello).