Celebratory concerts such as this are always a mixed bag. Those who like American songs will often be at odds with those who prefer the sounds of old Vienna. The days are long gone when a traditional German orchestra sounded stiff and formal playing a Broadway tune. The fabulous Dresdeners are quite at ease in this music and play it better than most. The deliciously slinky way they have with Gershwin’s Strike up the Band Overture would match all comers. Thielemann is on top of all musical styles, even though the first half of the concert is clearly the better half.

Renée Fleming’s voice is best suited to operatic items; she sounds as if she’s slumming it in the American material. Her version of I Could Have Danced All Night is breathlessly over the top. She is simply too heavy for those parts and tries too hard to be ‘cool’.

Vogt, with his superb voice and matinee good looks is a charmer. Although in Anything You Can Do
I Can Do Better by Irving Berlin, he is under par and Fleming is simply wrong. The alternate verses are sung in German, which is a treat for us Anglos. The overtures from many of these shows often represent the composers at their best. Music from Berliners like Paul Lincke (his wonderfully exuberant overture to Grigri), and Eduard Könneke’s infectious Intermezzo were a delightful surprise.