Absolutely sensational. Sir Willard White’s recital last Friday must surely go down as one of the highlights of this year’s Lieder Festival. And with a performer of this calibre, you would expect nothing less. Although more used to treading the boards of the likes of Covent Garden and the New York Met, Sir Willard looked equally at home in the more intimate setting of the Holywell Music Room, which unsurprisingly was packed to capacity. Together with accompanist Eugene Asti, he took the audience on a journey through a varied repertoire that was perfectly designed to showcase his extraordinary versatility and charismatic personality. Starting with a group of Schumann songs — including the Husaren-Lieder, Dein Angesicht and Die beiden Grenadiere — he instantly grabbed the audience’s attention with a powerfully dramatic performance that was totally compelling.

But this is a man who also enjoys a joke with his audience, and he had a lot of fun with songs such as Charles Ives’s three-line 1-2-3 (“the shortest song I’ve ever sung!”) and Benjamin Britten’s The Foggy, Foggy Dew and Oliver Cromwell, all performed with a twinkle in his eye.

The second half had an all-American theme, starting with a lively selection of songs by Aaron Copland, including The Boatmen’s Dance, The Dodger and the incomparable I Bought Me a Cat — another opportunity to catch Sir Willard in playful mood. In contrast, there was exceptional warmth and sensitivity in a Rogers and Hammerstein selection, and I don’t think I have ever heard Edelweiss and Some Enchanted Evening sung so beautifully, or If I Loved You with such tenderness. He ended the programme in upbeat mood with one of his trademark pieces, I’ve Got Plenty of Nothin’ from Porgy and Bess.

Inevitably, he was not allowed to go without an encore, and finished up giving two — another trademark song, Ol’ Man River, and This Little Light, bringing the evening to a glorious conclusion.