Making it look easy: Simon Keenlyside and Graham Johnson’s Liederabend in Vienna

The first part of the Celebrity Recital which brought the Leeds Lieder Festival to a close was entitled “Schubert Looking North”, which included a section on German versions of British poets.

It was hard to choose from the fascinating menu for The Composer’s Echo (the title for this Leeds Lieder Festival), which is described as “a feast of song from the great Western European tradition which fuses poetry and music” by the festival’s director, Jane Anthony.

Marian Anderson, the famed African-American contralto, once remarked of Kathleen Ferrier, “My God, what a voice – and what a face!” This concert was a Centenary Celebration of Ferrier’s art at the Wigmore Hall, and I reflected (not for the first time) how aptly Anderson’s words could also apply to Alice Coote, the evening’s distinguished soloist.

‘Fêtes Galantes’ is one of those glorious French phrases that sounds so wonderful but is nigh on impossible to translate. Rather than having any concrete meaning, it evokes Watteau-esque imagery of woodland gatherings, where eighteenth-century aristocrats amuse themselves by flirting, dancing and making music.

Rollando Villazón, Kate Lindsey und Sir Simon Keenlyside machen die aktuelle Aufführungsserie dieser exotischeren Blumen im Opernrepertoire zum Pflichttermin.

Christoph Marthaler siedelt Verdis letzte Oper an einem Filmset an und produziert dabei wohl keinen Kassenschlager; immerhin rettet die musikalische Seite den Abend vor dem Flop.