I get excited about a new thing every week; right now it’s a classical record that won’t be out for another week or so: Neruda Songs. Sadly enough, it’s the final recording by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the amazing mezzo-soprano who died of breast cancer earlier this year. As the title says, she interprets love poetry by the Chilean writer Pablo Neruda, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

IMO, it wasn’t just about the notes with Lieberson. I dig any singer who can convey some kind of emotional connection with a song (examples: Billie Holiday, Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, David Byrne)—regardless of how “pretty” the voice is. Of course, given the medium she worked in, Lieberson’s voice is gorgeous in a conventional sense, yet not in a way that distracts you from the fact that the words actually mean something. Of course, it’s even more of a kick if you understand the language she’s singing in. (Neruda wrote in Spanish.)