This week's releases reviewed

KATE ROYAL: MIDSUMMER NIGHT Orchestra of English National Opera; Conductor: Edward Gardner EMI CLASSICS 2 68192 ***

Kate Royal has attracted public and critical praise in the UK, and here she sings an eclectic mixture of arias from English operas along with a few well-loved bon bons from the Central European repertoire. The result is mixed. Royal has a memorably limpid middle register, but is stretched when she ventures out of her safety zone. In general, the English arias are her best interpretations, with her singing of the Embroidery Songfrom Peter Grimesparticularly memorable. In the arias from Dvorak, Lehar and Korngold Royao is less comfortable, and the tessitura in Marietta's Leidseems particularly difficult for her. Royal has a lovely voice, but more work on her technique would greatly increase her singing capability. www.emiclassics.com COLMAN MORRISSEY