Singing seems simply sublime

Jermyn Street
Lorna Dallas

Some cabaret artists - like vintage wines - mature and deepen with age. One such is Lorna Dallas, a fixture on the London cabaret scene for many years but who is only now emerging as a major cabaret player on both sides of the Atlantic.

The quality of her shimmering, still vibrantly youthful soprano has never been in doubt but she has found her interpretative voice too and that is finally propelling her forward, not merely as a singer of songs but as a rich communicator of them. She caresses the lyrics with diction and delight.

It is precisely this attribute that now puts her in company with the cabaret elite, of whom Barbara Cook is perhaps the foremost exponent. While there is no one quite like Cook, I was regularly reminded of her while watching Dallas' beautifully crafted new show, Spring Collection, which celebrates the eponymous season with a vitality and warmth.

Like Cook, Dallas knows that in order to be the best, you need to work with the best. She has forged a wonderfully creative union with New York director Barry Kleinbort and a brilliant musical director Christopher Denny, both of whom lend just the right support to presenting her talent so carefully.

Like Cook, she draws her material from the familiar and the unknown to alternately embrace and surprise you. She is always sublime.

Mark Shenton