Fatma Said

"Said has a lively stage personality, those wonderful flashing eyes, a voice which can seemingly float effortlessly. But what is fascinating is to hear her repertoire as it broadens out, to witness her astonishing ability to take on new things and, essentially, to make them all work... Said and Middleton gave us just the right pacing to draw the listener completely into the inner world of each song...[Schubert's Viola] was stunning, and held the audience completely throughout its span of nearly a quarter of an hour. There was matchless thought-thought and worked performance which had everything... The extent of preparation for this concert and the assuredness also stay in the mind. And it seems hard to believe that all of this repertoire was not just sung from memory but also so completely absorbed and owned... The biggest surprise of all was in Weill’s tango-habanera “Youkali” from the composer's brief time in Paris, in which Said suddenly found a blowsy assertiveness and grit. Now that, truly, opens up all kinds of astonishing possibilities for the future; it was just one moment of revelation and delight in a very special evening."

Sebastian Scotney