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Shakespeare songs turned out to be more of a Shakespeare feast starring Antonio Pappano, Ian Bostridge and the exceptional Eve Best.

Amidst the furore of celebrations for the anniversaries of Verdi and Wagner, the final Chamber Prom of this season gave pause to savour the music of the great English Renaissance lutenist, singer and composer John Dowland, whose 450th birthday also falls this year.

‘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.

The third day of the 27th Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music's journey from Hanseatic to Adriatic stopped off in the spiritual Catholic/Protestant borders of Germany in the latter half of the 17th Century for an intimate session entitled "Life and Soul", which turned out to be a resoundingly cheerful evening, despite all the prayers and laments.