Residency Programme

"...a superb mezzo...Sally Garden chose to inaugurate a new concert series of music from the Wighton Collection with a recital of songs, several from the collection, demonstrating Scotland's strong cultural links with Europe.

Scottish songs set by Weber and two Sibelius songs were evocatively sung, and a Haydn piano sonata, two of Grieg's Lyric pieces and John McLeod's Hebridean dances were played with charm, wit and an enviably light touch by Donald Hawksworth, whose accompaniments could not have been bettered.

...the real revelation was the hardly-known music of Scottish composers. Francis George Scott's setting of Hugh MacDiarmid's The man in the moon sung so persuasively and exquisitely as this seemed the equal of Hugo Wolf, and Sally Garden's sensitive and perfectly shaded account of Alexander Mackenzie's Drei lieder Op14 and Hamish MacCunn's I'll tend thy bower could hold their own in any song recital". (Courier 17-03-04)