DELICIOUS! I could actually end the review of Antiphon’s latest concert right there, but why miss the opportunity to rub salt in the wounds of those who missed out?

For the evening in 13th century Blanchland Abbey was as charming as they come: lashings of sweet music in an atmospheric setting, topped off by strawberries and Pimms. Yum!

Established by local historian and accomplished songstress Judy Lloyd and directed by John Roper, the Hexham-based chamber choir specialises in English and Continental music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

While they tend to roll out their more heavy-duty performances at their winter concert – the first choir to perform in Hexham Abbey’s newly instituted Great Hall in February, they presented Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Ariana and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on that occasion – their summer concert is an altogether lighter affair.

Three French madrigals, seven of the 11 songs from the folk songbook The Sprig of Thyme (arranged by John Rutter) and a sprinkling of beautiful middle English songs followed, not forgetting a strong rendition of Gershwin’s Summertime by soprano Mary Emmett and violin solos by Louise Khazaee.

The only blot on my otherwise lovely evening was the inclusion of Benjamin Britten’s Five Flower Songs . Am I the only person who can’t get away with that man?

HELEN COMPSON