No complaints about variety in this Favourites From The Opera concert or about the versatility of the choir, who acquitted themselves well singing in Italian, Russian and their native language.
There was excellent support from the CBSO, who also took centre stage in the Four Sea Interludes from Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, which began with a hushed, shimmering dawn and ended with a powerful storm.
The Moonlight section was not so successful, with conductor Adrian Lucas unable to bring off the trick of making the it sound tense and expectant rather than just slow and hesitant.
The Triumphal Scene from Verdi's Aida was suitably grandiloquent and it was good to hear Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor in its original choral form, with fine work from the sopranos in the section we can all hum along to courtesy of its use as Strangers in Paradise from the musical Kismet.
Rather than presenting a selection of isolated arias from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, we had Robert Russell Bennett's concert version, a linked arrangement of highlights making a satisfying potted version of the opera.
A similar format was used for the selections from Bizet's Carmen but this had a cobbled-together feel about it with Roderick Earle's swaggering rendering of Escamillo's Toreador's Song, presented as if it were the climax of the opera.
Emily Bauer-Jones was a dignified rather than sultry Carmen but it's difficult being sexy while singing a clunky English translation.
The Gershwin was delightful, with vibrant orchestral playing complete with banjo, Earle and Maureen Braithwaite's soprano - perhaps too delicate in Summertime - sharing five roles, and ending with a joyous Lawd I'm on My Way with the choir giving full-bodied support.
