Heritage Concert -- Gilbert & Sullivan Society -- St. John's Church -- May 19 and 20.

*** An electrifying performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto brought a standing ovation, cheers and feet-stamping for its brilliant soloist, Xiao-Dong Wang this weekend -- not only from the packed audience but, even more tellingly, from his fellow musicians.

In a very real sense, however, this moment of triumph belonged quite as much to conductor Marjorie Pettit, who has brought the art of local orchestral playing to previously undreamed-of levels.

Her decision, last year, to conduct Xiao-Dong in the Bruch Concerto, was a gamble that succeeded beyond anyone's expectations; this year, with the Mendelssohn, she confirms her pre-eminence as a musician who, besides holding her own alongside a young genius, also demands (and achieves) an inspired performance from her orchestra led by the very capable Kerry Haslam. The plaudits do not end here: her hand-picked chorus, in its performance of Mendelssohn's symphony-cantata, the Hymn of Praise, has also reached new heights of excellence.

The annual Gilbert & Sullivan Society Heritage Concert began with the short, bright Regina Coeli by Mozart, written for the Easter season, and with its cries of `Alleluia', reminiscent of the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah.

It was a happy opening choice in that it involved orchestra, chorus and the evening's four soloists -- soprano Barbara Peters, mezzo-soprano Trudy Weaver, bass Peter Nash, and tenor Gary Burgess, making another most welcome return home for the occasion.

Mendelssohn's E minor concerto is, along with those of Beethoven and Brahms, considered one of the three great violin concertos of the 19th century.

Certainly, this ever-popular work shimmers with a lyricism that is at once tender and vivacious.

Felix Mendelssohn, whose Jewish family affixed `Bartholdy' to their name when they converted to Christianity, has been aptly described as the `Prince Charming' of music.

Born into a wealthy, intellectual family, he matched Mozart as a child prodigy composer, concert pianist and conductor. He enjoyed immense fame and success throughout his life, but also like Mozart, he died at a tragically early age -- at 38, just three years after the first performance of his celebrated Violin Concerto.

This work is unusual in that an orchestral introduction is dispensed with; the soloist seizes the first, seductive theme, after which he plays almost non-stop, engaging throughout in a dazzling musical dialogue with the orchestra.

From that first soaring melody, Xiao-Dong made its sweetness his own. Having crossed that indefinable barrier where technique is seemingly taken for granted, his concern was with the innate lyricism of the piece, exploited first in the exquisite cadenza in the opening movement and flowing seamlessly through the sustained solo note of the bassoon into the second. How exquisitely he paced the aching melody of the slow movement, which almost too soon, erupts into the skittish gaiety of the third. Echoing the fairytale etherealism of Mendelssohn's incomparable `A Midsummer Night's Dream', here was another aspect of Xiao-Dong's amazing technique as the rippling staccato notes and aerial rhythms wove an aura of almost magical enchantment. An incredible achievement from this modest young man who seemed almost surprised by the tumult of applause that erupted at the end.

After this considerable excitement, there was a complete change of mood with the reflective beauty of two songs by Elgar from his Sea Pictures cycle.

American soloist Trudy Weaver, who has recently sung major roles at the Carnegie, Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls, has a marvelously rich mezzo-soprano voice. Both `Where Corals Lie' and the lovely `Sabbath Morning at Sea' (set to a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning) suit her mellow purity of tone. The other major work of the evening was another composition by Mendelssohn, his Hymn of Praise. We owe his second Symphony (of which the Hymn forms the main part) to the city of Leipzig's 400th anniversary of printing.

Rarely performed in its entirety today, it is composed along the lines of Beethoven's massive Choral Symphony.

While nowhere approaching the sublimity of Beethoven, the Hymn of Praise provides some wonderful vocal opportunities for a large chorus and is consequently a popular choice at choral festivals. Obviously relishing every moment, this choir literally sang its heart out. With the strongest and best quality of tone from the men's section ever, the choir as a whole sang magnificently. Sensitive to its varied nuances, and thoroughly rehearsed by Marjorie Pettit, they produced impressively crisp entries and endings -- so often the downfall of amateur choirs.

With Trudy Weaver, Barbara Peters and Peter Nash providing some beautiful solo passages, it was Gary Burgess who shone in this work, with the plaintive aria, `He counteth all your sorrows' and the effortless grace of `The sorrows of death'. There was, too, a glorious duet between him and soprano Barbara Peters in `My song shall be alway thy mercy'.

With a stirring choral introduction, superbly backed by the orchestra, the musically climactic passage of this work occurs with the section, `Let all men praise the Lord' (familiar to everyone as the hymn tune, `Now thank we all our God).

Accompanied only by the understated sound of William Duncan on the organ, this passage revealed the true strength, even majestic grandeur of this choir, as the orchestra surged in for the dramatic ending.

This Heritage Concert, produced by Marjorie Stanton, marks another milestone in the musical life of Bermuda. Few would ever have imagined, even ten years ago, that tiny Bermuda could ever stage a concert of this calibre. It is a standard which many larger cities overseas, might well envy.

PATRICIA CALNAN MENDELSSOHN'S MUSIC -- CHINESE STYLE -- 25-year old Xiao-Dong Wang thrilled sold-out audiences at St. John's Church with two performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto this weekend.