Liz jumped in at 24 hours notice to sing a wide and varied programme (some of it new!) with the exciting Fantasia Orchestra, directed by Tom Fetherstonhaugh, making their Smith Square Hall debut. The repertoire, on the theme of bird song, ranged from Strauss to Sherwin and exploited Liz’s love of all types of music.

The Times wrote “”It’s always a pleasure to listen to Watts, armed with a voice without any weak spots and kinks, always deployed with warmth, good taste and palpable feeling.”

“Watts herself particularly excelled in the voluptuous leaps required for Strauss’s Frühling and the bird-free drama of the Countess’s aria Dove sono from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro”

The Arts Desk also praised “the revelation of her full, richly coloured tone married to textural meaning in Strauss’s “Frühling””, commenting that her “Dove sono” was a model of fine articulation and expressive urging.” and “To cap it all, Watts showed she was just at home in natural delivery of Kosma’s “Autumn Leaves”.