Liz has been delighted to start 2026 touring with Mark Wigglesworth and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. It was a special treat for her to sing in her home town of Taunton and also to make her debut singing in the refurbished Bristol Beacon, with its exceptional acoustics. Seen and Heard’s Chris Kettle writes

”The centrepiece of each half brought the soprano Elizabeth Watts to the stage: with her personal warmth and sense of fun she is the ideal person to introduce the music and to get the audience simmering nicely. Her rapport with us was instant: mind you, it must be a lot easier to warm up the Beacon’s lively and appreciative audience (half warmed up already by the exhilarating atmosphere generated by the hall itself) than to do it in one of London’s comparable halls. But the fact that she entertained us so successfully with her speaking voice cannot take precedence over the excellence of her singing and her dramatic sense.

She has the power for Wagner and the carefully calibrated delicacy and precision for – I was going to say Mozart, but you know what I mean. Her top register was thrilling, and pingingly accurate: it was a magnificent display of singing. ‘Sounds of my Homeland’ was genuinely touching, and ‘Adele’s Laughing Song’ was so superbly done that we had no need to encourage her by polite tittering. We were in awe. In the second half (in a second dress) she had us humming along to her beautifully sung ‘Vilja Lied’, and her comically steamy introduction to ‘Meine Lippen’ from Giuditta had us hanging on every word.”

Further tour dates are 9th January 7.30pm, Weymouth Pavilion and 10th January, 7.30pm Fareham Live.

Here’s to 2026!