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.

Le metteur en scène français transpose avec succès l'action dans l'Angleterre des années 1960, bien suivi par l'ensemble de la distribution, très homogène.

Avec le formidable chœur Orfeón Donostiarra et un Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse au mieux de sa forme, le chef finlandais commence en beauté sa prometteuse intégrale Vaughan Williams.