WINDSOR FESTIVAL: Gala night review

The launch of this year's Windsor Festival on Sunday evening featured a gala night which had some of this country's finest young voices and musicians showing it's all right for art to be fun, writes Bryce Martin.

A cleverly constructed programme saw baritone Mark Stone, soprano Michelle Walton, mezzo soprano Frances Bourne and tenor Andrew Staples show in turn the range and qualities of the human voice from tender to angry, desolate to ecstatic.

Sensitive accompaniment came from the all-female Barber String Quartet directed discretely from the piano by Steve Higgins.

A selection of arias and duets from Verdi, Gounod, Tchaikovsky, Massenet and Rossini ended with all four combining in some naughty bits from Mozart¹s comic masterpiece, the Marriage of Figaro, which had the audience panting for more.

The encore the ribald Brush up Your Shakespeare from Cole Porter¹s Kiss Me Kate left big smiles on the faces of an audience twice the age of these sharp performers.

We will be reviewing a whole array of performances throughout the Windsor Festival.
Keep an eye on our website for regular updates.