Gwyn Hughes Jones, the young Welsh tenor who headed the bill at the NCH on Saturday, was less good than when he sang here in July. The use of half voice I admired then was this time occasionally frustrated by lack of breath support and there were a few accidents. More worrying was the fact that, shorn of a conductor's guidance, he was inclined to push ahead of the natural pulse of the music. This resulted in throw-away accounts of otherwise beautifully vocalised arias from La heme Boheme and Faust. In fairness, he spun a good line in Una furtiva lagrima and in Tosti's delightful Ideale.

Scottish soprano Rosalind Sutherland started with Una voce poco fa, a mezzo aria really, but given with all sorts of well-executed high coloratura embellishments, all sung in full voice. This depth of tone didn't suit the Fledermaus laughing song, but was effective in the cabaletta of Elvira's scene from Verdi's Ermani.

Marzio Giossi, who partnered Sutherland in that Leoncavallo duet, provided the best singing of the evening. His resonant baritone, which never loses focus, is particularly strong at the top of his range. Christopher McManus was an accomplished and ever-supportive accompanist for the solo singers, as was Davis Brady, who played for the Tallaght Choral Society. Grainne Gormley's choir boasted a vibrant soprano section which enhanced Handel's Hallelujah chorus and the stirring Battle Hymn Of The Republic.