December 1 at St. John's Church, Pembroke.

The performing arts made its response to World AIDS Day with a gala concert of opera at St. John's Church.

Seven musicians donated their services to the concert, presented by Sandys Rotary Club as their first major fund-raising event towards the establishment of an AIDS education fund.

The music, ranging from the sublime Mozart to the effervescence of Franz Lehar, was well chosen, embracing well-known arias from the best loved operas and always easy on the ear. There seems, in any case, to be a great yearning for opera in Bermuda, as evidenced by the enthusiastic response by the audience on Tuesday evening.

The church, beautifully decorated with a hint of Christmas cheer by the ladies of St. John's, has good acoustics and any fears that the piano accompaniment would sound inadequate, were quickly dispelled -- due in no small part to the professionalism of pianists Jane Farge and Lloyd Matthew and the sheer, reverberating volume of sound produced by these excellent singers.

The evening got off to an impressive start with Bermudian Ru-Zelda Nisbett-Severin singing Dove Sono from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. This sweet-toned and promising soprano coped well with the Contessa's remorseful aria, as she did later in the programme with O My Beloved Father, a popular solo from one of Puccini's later works, Gianni Schicci.

Austrian tenor Franz Wohlmuth tackled the hero's famous, but demanding aria from Puccini's Tosca with sensibility and the right touch of passion. He came into his own, however, with the nostalgic strains of Franz Lehar's The Land of Smiles.

American soprano Beverly Hay was making her third visit to Bermuda but this was the first opportunity to hear her give full rein to her powerful voice in opera. Ideally suited to bel canto singing, her first solo was from Rossini's Semiramide, a notoriously difficult piece with sustained high notes which she sang with consummate ease. Her sense of style and presentation in this and an aria from Puccini's La Rondine complemented her seemingly effortless technical prowess.

Also from the US was lyric soprano Gwendolyn Lytle, making the first of what we hope will be the first of many appearances in Bermuda. Her remarkable voice, which combines an almost seductive earthiness with soaring purity, is enhanced by a radiant stage presence, all of which contributed to the impact of her glorious rendition of Caro Nome from Verdi's Rigoletto, and the bitter-sweet lyricism of her Ah, forse'e lui from La Traviata.

Mezzo soprano Nancy Chisling, who has established herself as one of the Island's leading singers since she came here three years ago, is blessed with a voice of tremendous range and subtle beauty. Both of her solos revealed these qualities, capturing perfectly the haunting despair of What is Life to me Without Thee, from Gluck's Orfeo and Delilah's well-known aria from Saint-Saen's Samson and Delilah.

So much for the solo pieces, which were interspersed with some of opera's memorable duets and trios, with such delights as Beverly Hay and Nancy Chisling in one of Mozart's earlier operas, La Clamenza di Tito, which even then confirmed his genius for melodic vocal harmony and sung here with beautifully understated rapport.

Viens Malika from Delibes' Lakme has become one of the most famous duets in all opera and Ru-Zelda Nisbett-Severin and Nancy Chisling gave a glowingly confident rendition of this sumptuous piece.

Then there was the musical crescendo of the trio from Cosi fan tutte, with Peter Nash making a welcome venture onto the operatic scene, his voice sounding bright and vibrant as he was joined by Gwendolyn Lytle and Nancy Chilsing in this most perfect of Mozartian conversations.

The magnificent Gwendolyn Lytle teamed up with Ms Nisbett-Severin for yet another Mozart gem, this time the Su l'aria (zephyr song) from The Marriage of Figaro, and then there was the lovely Flower Duet from Puccini's Madam Butterfly, tenderly sung by Beverly Hay and Nancy Chisling.

Finally, for a rousing finale, all five singers came together for that popular standby of group opera recitals, the ballroom scene in La Traviata, in which first one, then another take up the melody until they are all singing in a kind of operatic free-for-all. Great fun, and a fitting end to this unique charity event.

PATRICIA CALNAN.