Dame Felicity Lott, revered British soprano, says of this CD: “Summertime…has many of my favourite songs in English, French and German. We made the CD at a friend`s house, and the sessions were so relaxed, with no London traffic to cause endless retakes! It's a real mix of beautiful songs of all kinds, on a summer theme. I chose songs I loved, from Gershwin to Christopher Robin…"

Three centuries of song are represented here, and, as BBC Music Magazineʼs Hilary Finch put it “such is the skill of Johnsonʼs programming that the entire recital seems to be a single, sustained exhalation of rapture and reflection”.

She went on to say: "The upper reaches of Lottʼs still gleaming soprano inhabit Barberʼs ʻShining Nightʼ and Fauréʼs ʻClair de luneʼ. And her robust English version of Schubertʼs ʻWho is Sylvia?ʼ finds an irresistible companion in Arneʼs ʻWhere the Bee Sucksʼ, with its veritable midsummer nightʼs dream of an accompaniment from Johnson. The artistsʼ palpable sense of joy and well-being gathers momentum as they visit Berliozʼs ʻLʼîle inconnueʼ and as they sing on the water with Schubert. . . . And Lott and Johnson know well that the only way to face sentiment is to acknowledge its own integrity, as they do when they listen to Haydn Woodʼs ʻLittle Brown Birdʼ and eavesdrop with Fraser-Simson on Christopher Robin saying his prayers."

This CD features songs from a great variety of composers - Gershwin, Barber, Cole Porter, Bernstein, Brahms, Schubert, Arne, Schumann, Berlioz, and many more. A full 29 tracks of summer-themed songs!

Contents:
1. Summertime (Porgy & Bess - George Gershwin)
2. Sure on this Shining Night (Samuel Barber)
3. The Sherpherd's Song (Edward Elgar)
4. Clair de Lune (Gabriel Faure)
5. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Roger Quilter)
6. Who is Sylvia (Roger Quilter)
7. Where the Bee Sucks (Thomas Arne)
8. L'Ile Inconnue (Hector Berlioz)
9. Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (Franz Schubert)
10. Soir (Gabriel Faure)
11. Der Nussbaum (Robert Schumann)
12. Meine Liebe is Grun (Johannes Brahms)
13. Ah Moon of my Delight (Liza Lehmann)
14. Notre Amour (Gabriel Faure)
15. Villanelle (Hector Berlioz)
16. The Monk and his Cat (Samuel Barber)
17. Go Not, Happy Day (Frank Bridge)
18. To Daffodils (Frederick Delius)
19. Orpheus with his Lute (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
20. The Trellis (John Ireland)
21. Love's Philosophy (Roger Quilter)
22. A Brown Bird Singing (Haydn Wood)
23. The Lark in the Clear Air (Traditional Irish)
24. Sleep (Peter Warlock)
25. The Tales of an Oyseter (Cole Porter)
26. My House (Leonard Bernstein)
27. The Little Road to Bethlehem (Michael Head)
28. Vespers (Harold Fraser-Simson)
29. The Lord Bless You and Keep You (John Rutter)