The Halle New Year Viennese Celebration St George's Hall, Bradford Sunday, January 4, 2015 THE Halle's traditional Viennese New Year Concert has long been a much loved highlight of the Bradford orchestral series. This year's amiable Master of Ceremonies was the conductor Stephen Bell who leads another life as the distinguished Principal French Horn in the Britten Sinfonia. The concert began is it would end; the Fatherland March, written in homage to Johann Strauss Senior by his sons Johann and Josef, incorporates themes from their father's most famous composition, the Radetzky March.

These occasions invariably include a selection of operetta gems but Rebecca Bottone, the scheduled soloist, was forced by a seasonal ailment to cancel. Jennifer France, soon to be seen as Lauretta in Opera North's new production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, was Bottone's eleventh hour replacement. The young lyric soprano dressed in a chic electric blue cocktail dress immediately enchanted the audience in her opening number Roses in Tyrol from Zeller's Der Vogelhandler. This led neatly into Roses from the South, one of Johann Strauss's finest sets of orchestral waltzes. Joseph Lanner's hectic New Year Galop was followed by Lehar's Overture to his now (sadly) rarely performed operetta The Land of Smiles. Perfunctory performances of Johann Strauss's Emperor Waltz and the Tritsch-Tratsch Polka led to what would be the high water mark of the entire programme - Johann Strauss'a vocal waltz Voices of Spring. It was as though conductor and orchestra were inspired by Jennifer France who tossed off the coloratura with carefree joy and vivacity that shone through her performance. After the interval, the singer returned in wistful mood to sing the lovely Vilja Lied from the Merry Widow - a beautifully projected performance with the audience singing the chorus lines. France infused Adele's Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus with all the seductive charm and comedic timing that we could have wished for. An enjoyable afternoon was rounded of in the time honoured tradition by the Blue Danube waltz and Radetzky March, with the audience clapping precisely in rhythm.

Geoffrey Mogridge