A special celebration of late romantic song was the theme behind Dame Felicity Lott’s enchanting evening concert in the Great Hall at Queen’s on January 26. Featuring a mix of songs from the French and English repertoire, it was undoubtedly the highlight performance of this year’s International Chamber Music Festival, run by the Belfast Music Society.

Taking to the stage in an elaborate sapphire-coloured gown, Lott cut an imposing presence, elegant in stature. Beginning with the music of Ravel, Lott’s expertise in French interpretation, diction and style became apparent. Aptly accompanied by Eugene Asti, it was an engaging performance.

Lott possesses a remarkably clear voice, even in tone and with a colourful ambience. Her vibrato was immaculate, devoid of any “warble” that tends to affect many singers. As would be expected, she had a powerful grasp of dynamics and a flair for expression that was well-received by the audience.

It was a packed and well-balanced programme, featuring well over twenty songs (including two encores), which Lott cleverly used to convey a range of emotions. From tales of love to everyday wonder, there was something for everyone. Short numbers, such as Barber’s ‘Promiscuity’, were delivered with welcomed comic timing. The “Heigh ho” ending of Stanford’s ‘From the Red Rose’ was a particularly superb display of dynamic control.

The Great Hall at Queen’s provided an intimate and warm setting for the occasion. It was encouraging to see such a good audience turnout for the event. The Chamber Festival, though small in scale, nevertheless lends credence to the old adage that quality is definitely better than quantity.

The opening night of the 2008 International Chamber Music Festival on January 25 presented an extraordinary level of musicianship in the Harty Room at Queen’s University. Featuring a recital by the Szymanowski String Quartet, critically acclaimed since its establishment some thirteen years ago in Warsaw, it was a compelling evening consisting of the music of Haydn, Ravel and Szymanowski.

Beginning with Haydn’s ‘The Dream’ quartet, the most striking thing about the ensemble’s performance was the incredible smoothness of texture emanating from the players. As fluid as a river, the quartet was adept at meandering gently through the delicate textures, flowing into raging lyrical harmonies and cascading into beautiful staccato waterfalls. There was an intrinsic energy surrounding the ensemble and a deeply embedded sense of communication that bordered on the sublime. At ease onstage, the quartet’s mannerisms and musical gestures were perfectly in unison. Impeccable timing throughout, it was a polished performance.

Two Szymanowski pieces featured in the programme – his ‘Nocturne and Tarantella’ and the composer’s ‘String Quartet no. 1 in C’. Frenzied vibrato, thunderous dynamics and intense musical consistency, each piece was performed with passion and vigour. Ravel’s ‘String Quartet in F’ was expertly delivered with a wonderful variety of tone and expression. Marcin Sieniawski’s cello in particular possessed almost vocal idiosyncrasies. You could practically hear the instrument breath.

Dame Felicity Lott’s name is internationally known in operatic circles but her special love is the solo song repertoire and it was from this genre that she delighted the audience in the Great Hall at Queen’s on Saturday night with a mix of French and English songs. The Concert, organised by the Belfast Music Society, was part of an International Festival of Chamber Music, predominantly celebrating French music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. BMS is lottery funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the concerts were presented in association with BBC Radio 3 for broadcast in the first week in April.

Exquisitely accompanied on piano by Eugene Asti, Dame Lott began with Ravel’s Manteau de Fleurs, Le Paon and Le Cygne. These difficult pieces were beautifully performed with Dame Lott’s gestures and facial expressions aiding the telling of the stories as she drew the audience in. Her breath control and attention to dynamics were quite magical and Asti’s sensitive accompaniments added much colour with his extra tiny details and subtleties. Debussy’s Ariettes Oubliees set were equally lovely and the different moods and interpretations achieved in the difficult and seldom heard L’Ile Heureuse and Lied by Chabrier were well interpreted by Dame Lott. Satie’s Le Chapelier and Je te veux brought the first half to a lighter finish. Dame Lott’s down-to-earth and relaxed manner was admirable. She let the songs speak for themselves without the need for endless talking and explaining that many artists feel they have to do these days.

In a good balanced way part two was devoted to songs from the English repertoire. The familiar Vaughan-Williams’ Silent Noon and Quilter’s Now sleeps the crimson petal eachbrought appreciative gasps of “Aw” from the audience. Lott’s warm tone was perfect for Stanford’s From the Red Rose. Barber’s selection was varied in emotion and style and Lott’s ability to communicate the meaning of the songs was carried out with slick panache. We may not have seen Lott at her most vivacious this evening but elegance and experience radiated and the audience called for two encores. Well done BMS for enticing an artist of this fame and calibre to these shores.

Polish quartet sparkle at Queens

Heading into their 13th year together, the Szymanowski Quartet has long since developed an international reputation as one of the most technically capable and captivating string quartets in the business. Their appearance at this year’s Belfast Music Society’s Festival of International Chamber Music marks their quartet’s first visit to Belfast, and they bring an eclectic programme of classical, impressionist and contemporary music to the Harty Room at Queen's University.

At the top of the evening is Haydn’s String Quartet No. 48, 'The Dream’. A particularly challenging piece, it includes many solo moments for each player, particularly in the Vivace finale. The players’ sympathetic interpretation of the classical style - intonation, phrasing and dynamics - are all perfect, their abilities both as an ensemble and as individual players immediately apparent.

Next is a piece by Karol Szymanowski himself, 'String Quartet No. 1 in C', the work of a composer embroiled with the revolution of his Polish homeland. A forward-looking work, Szymanowski wrote it using various harmonic inflections, including bi- and tri-tonality. Even so, the music remains lush and lyrical, creating a dense contrapuntal texture.

The second half of the concert begins with Ravel’s famous 'String Quartet in F', a work that catapulted the young French composer’s career forward, causing a furore with the public after its unsuccessful application into the Prix de Rome. The piece is one of the first serious compositions of Ravel's career, and today remains one of the great chamber works of any of the 20th-century impressionists.

The opening sets the tone with its elegant main theme, moving into lush chords reminiscent of Claude Debussy who, incidentally, was one of the work’s earliest and fiercest advocates.

The second movement is the highlight of the evening, bringing the technical proficiency of the Szymanowski Quartet into sharp relief. Ravel was a fantastic orchestrator and nowhere is this more apparent than in the rhythmic jousting and colourful harmonies he was able to achieve with only four players. Marcin Sieniawski’s performance in particular is worth a note, with its furious double-stopping passages.

The finale is another Szymanowski work, 'Nocturne and Tarantella'. Originally scored for violin and piano, this work’s ethnic influence is apparent in the harmonies and rhythmic juxtapositions displayed throughout, written as it was in response to visits by the composer to Africa and Greece.

Much of the music takes on a life of its own, with extensive sections scored for the first violin using extended pizzicato techniques, and structurally can be described as impressionistic due to its goal of fusing classical and ethnic influences. While similar in style to the Szymaowski 'String Quartet in C', the performers take the opportunity to capitalize on the differences in tone and rhythm, and give an excellent performance.

The Szymanowski Quartet continue to surprise in their approach and execution of Szymanowksi's work, undoubtedly placing them at the cutting edge of contemporary chamber music.

The queen of English classical performs the best of French Impressionists

Since her 1975 debut as Pamima in Mozart's The Magic Flute for the English National Opera, soprano Dame Felicity Lott has established herself as a singer with few peers and become a full member of the English classical aristocracy.

In her programme for the Belfast Music Society International Festival of Chamber Music, dedicated for the most part to the French impressionists, Lott is joined by Pianist Eugene Asti in the Great Hall at Queen's University.

Lott opens the night with Ravel’s 'Manteau de Fleurs', written for actor Paul Gravollet, who also wrote the words. Like most of Ravel’s vocal music, the piano’s chromatic accompaniment is a blanket of arpeggiated chords and chimes that allow the soprano’s voice to hover above with the melody. Lott’s performance is dramatic and she engages with the audience incredibly well.

The other Ravel songs, taken from the 1906 song cycle Histoires Naturelle, are set to Jules Renards' animal poems 'Le Paon' ('The Peacock') and 'Le Cygne' ('The Swan'). The latter’s words certainly provided the composer with suitable material for his stylistic tendancies, including lines like: 'He glides upon the basin, like a white sleigh, from cloud to cloud. For he is hungry only for the snowy clouds that he sees born, move, and become lost in the water.'

Although short pieces, the music is anchored in the impressionist style and is beautifully performed with a sensitive piano accompaniment from Asti.

Keeping with the theme of French music, Lott performs Debussy’s 'Ariettes Oubliees', in which the composer set texts by fellow national Paul Verlaine in 1888. The music is characteristic of his Piano Preludes, and can be seen as a literal interpretation of Verlaine's poem. Debussy’s setting for the voice is superb and Lott captures the sentiment of each song.

Also included in the first half are songs by Chabrier and perhaps surprisingly, Satie. Throughout his life, Satie was a pioneer of contemporary music and rather than describe himself as a musician preferred the term ‘phonometrican’, meaning someone who ‘measures sound.’

This description is fitting when we consider Gymnopedies, published in 1888. But his songs 'Le Chapelier' and 'Je te veux' are slightly more restrained. Lott’s performance of these French songs is masterful, with a firm grasp of the linguistic contours of the texts.

Moving into the second half, Lott performs from the English composer Frederick Delius, whose music can be seen as an anglicised exposition of his French counterparts. Delius' music for 'In the Garden of the Seraglio' is intensely romantic, yet exists as an entirely different musical language from the chromatic harmonies of Ravel or Debussy.

Delius wears his heart on his sleeve, and Lott’s approach with these pieces is a sentimental one. Similarly, Stanford’s 'From the Red Rose', with words by AP Graves, is a typically English affair, free of any of impressionist meanderings.

Among the final pieces of the night, Vaughan Williams’ 'Silent Noon' is a quintessential example of the composer’s work, and the evening ends with a series of songs by the American composer Samuel Barber. 'The Monk and his Cat and Promiscuity', taken from Barber's Hermit Songs of 1953, provides the best moments of the night.

These strange musings from ancient Irish poetry are markedly different from the other repertoire of the evening, perhaps best described as witty, farcical, cryptic conundrums. But Lott’s ability to perform Barber as it was intended is testament to her abilities not only as a performer but as an actress. All in all, a thoroughly entertaining performance.