Pop-up Opera with their six singers and a keyboard have become a popular draw at the bibulous venue of Court Gardens Farm and last Sunday they gave a return performance of Rossini's comic opera An Italian Girl In Algiers.

Musical values are strong, which they need to be in this taxing music.

Bruno Loxton excelled as the buffo bass, Ciaran O'Leary's tenor was nasal but flexible, Helen Stanley as the eponymous heroine vocalised strongly rather than neatly. The tireless orchestra and MD was Berrak Dyer.

Sadly, this 200 year old masterpiece of a 21-year-old genius was nearly destroyed by an inappropriate, incoherent, unmusical and self-indulgent production.

Most of the lyrical numbers were undercut by jokey captions and messy business or just simply cut. Without a contrast to the frenetic goings on, the evening inevitably ran out of steam.

But for the first half at least, with healthy young voices resounding vigorously in the intimate acoustic, the effervescence of the music had the intoxicating stimulus of the best fizz i.e. Court Gardens Sparkling.

But the proprietor doesn't serve that admirable drink in a mug. Rossini deserves similar respect, which, if given, audiences would surely respond to.

Three stars