Lightly staccatoed word-pointing at “For unto us” (super oboes and strings), a stylish bass lead for “The Lord gave the word”, and a galvanisingly slick “He trusted in Him” were among many notable moments from the agreeably homogenous-sounding St George’s choir.Others had moments of magic, too. The RCM Peter Pears scholar tenor, Andrew Staples, excels in punchy recitative, though in aria he has a habit of nudging notes along, making them plod; there were some prosaic dynamics – he needs to “lean” into the music more subtly. What followed, tinged with hints of a natural-sounding Baker-Ferrier vibrato, was sparkling, buoyant, engaging. She surges awkwardly on to flutable high notes; but her dynamic range, and imagination, seemed more impressive than her colleagues’ She can surprise you. Most importantly, her voice evinced a love and tenderness towards the music that sometimes got missed in this hugely proficient overall performance.The conductor Simon Williams’s “Hallelujah Chorus” couldn’t have been bettered, and his brisk pacing worked wonders in “Surely”, with a magical attacca to “All we like sheep”. Here was Denise Leigh, half of the winning duo in the English National Opera/Channel 4 “Operatunity” competition, holding her own against some of the most promising voices of the younger generation, and teaching them a lesson or two.
This event – just yards from the composer’s house in Brook Street, where so many of his oratorios took shape – gave London’s discerning Handelians the chance to take to their bosoms this intriguing singer, heard at ENO recently (with fellow-winner Jane Gilchrist) as Rigoletto’s daughter.

While the songs may need more confidence for the band to change from being favourite warm-up band for Brit Rock bands, songs such as “Bottle it Up and Go”, with its blues rhythm and swinging mouth organ performance by Uzondu, can’t help but make feet dance.But not all the bands were of this standard. The London girl punk-rock band Hot Milk was one of the less successful acts. Though their Forties underwear went down a storm with half the audience, the songs lacked body, the guitars tuning, and the harmonies rehearsal.The Lams, on the other hand, who played a 20-minute set of Seventies psychedelic-inspired melodic rock, may have looked like geeks, but when they started performing, their lust for music triumphed.. Well, the lass came good. But the night also brought out a few less promoted bands, with records in the making or the shops Take the The Cherubs from Norway, for instance.

With a set of well-rehearsed yet manically performed vintage guitar rock, the five-piece provided both sing-along riffs and poetry. The two last songs, “My Idol Lies to me Every Day” and the yet unnamed “Skiffle”, raised expectations for the band’s coming record.Then there was the cockney four-piece, The Left Hand, lead by the dazzling Mr Uzondu, who reached the stage by walking through the crowds like the Mafia, oozing confidence and cool. And they were a dedicated lot, there from 8pm for the first band, Up C Down C, until the last band, the Hull garage rockers The Paddingtons left at 4.30am.So, which bands to review when one gig turns into 14? The Libertines turned out to be the most famous act of the night. It was certainly an intimate affair before the band’s Kentish Town Forum gigs.In between every band’s half-hour slot, a new enthusiastic DJ emerged, or a poet performed on stage. While the band played two new songs (“Last Post on the Bugle” and “The Likely Lads”) from their coming single, there was dangerous mayhem in the little venue, with some punters even dancing along on stage, and the singer Peter Doherty crowd-surfing. With 14 more or less secret bands and guest DJs such as The Clash’s Mick Jones promised to get the audiences through the night, and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly attending, fans travelled far to queue up for four hours in the freezing cold outside the Whitechapel venue.