Work: Clair de lune, Op.46 no.2

If you sing like an angel, might as well look like one. Philippe Jaroussky, considered one of the world’s finest countertenors, came onto the stage in Hohenems, Austria last Saturday evening with the demeanor of a celestial being...

If this first song recital of the season is any indication of the level we can expect at the Konzerthaus, lovers of Lieder are in for a real treat. Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber set the bar very high last night in a hefty program including Schumann’s Dichterliebe and a dozen other songs, a set of Fauré, and the world première of a song cycle by Jörg Widmann.

‘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.

Habituée de la Halle aux Grains et du répertoire français, Natalie Dessay retrouvait la salle toulousaine cette fois-ci accompagné par Laurent Naouri et par le pianiste polonais Maciej Pikulski.