There is much to warm to about the characterful young Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans, but it was only intermittently revealed in this somewhat uneasy Wigmore recital. Oliemans can be splendid, almost stentorian, in the lower register, and there is something of the Tristanesque dark tenor about his far-from-classical baritone sound. But in this recital he struggled above the stave – nerves perhaps, and his vibrato was a bit intrusive at first, too.

Oliemans began and ended with Mahler, with early songs from the Wunderhorn period to start with, not always consistently executed; he was at his best in Erinnerung where he thrillingly commanded a rich, long flow of tone. The Rückert songs at the end of the evening were generally better – much greater works of course, but the voice was under firmer control too, the listening ear more attuned to the vocal personality, with Um Mitternacht making a particularly fine theatrical impression, and the detachment of Ich bin der Welt Abhanden Gekommen managed with intelligence and feeling, wonderfully enhanced by Malcolm Martineau's accompaniment.

There was unevenness, too, in Oliemans's Strauss grouping, always thoughtful and probing but tonally a bit unforgiving. None of it matched his rendering of the composer's Morgen as an encore, which was very fine indeed. Four Duparc songs provoked frustration, the Chanson Triste too ardent and not articulated with the care that Oliemans then brought to L'Invitation au Voyage or the sense of drama that marked Le Galop and, later on, a second excellent encore in the shape of Hugo Wolf's Abschied.

Most successful of all were Debussy's three François Villon settings, though even here one could have wished for more precise French enunciation. But Oliemans's vocal and platform personality is particularly well suited to these works' more narrative bent, and he brought them off with great style, with Martineau providing some ravishing piano playing.