Arias torn from their context are not heard in the most favourable conditions. However, Mary Hegarty brought to Chi el bel sogno di Doretta from Puccini's La rondine enough dramatic fervour to suggest the passions of the plot and the mechanical doll's song from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann was so dazzling in its vocal extravagance that a context was hardly needed.
The two songs were preceded by Schubert's Marche Militaire, Op.51, No.1, played with great dynamism by the RTECO conducted by Prionnsias O Duinn. The second half of Friday's lunchtime concert began with Huapango by Moncayo Garcia, a set of three folkdances that mixed Mexican rhythms with salon harmonies.