‘You came, and the night resounded as gentle as a fairytale melody…’. Alban Berg’s intimately romantic Sieben frühe Lieder continue to beguile both audiences and performers even now, more than a century after their composition. Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne sound equally intimate and romantic; this is a collection of folksongs in the Occitan dialect which share only a few common points with Berg’s work. The melodies of both Brahms and Fauré are rightly considered the high point of vocal chamber music: these two composers weave form, harmony and pianistic features into a close synthesis. We still remember Sally Matthews’ recent debut at La Monnaie as an energetic Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress. Now she is giving a varied recital accompanied by Simon Lepper.