Marble and drapes at the Cornwallis Hotel, Brome, surrounded a good-humoured recital of light classics and supper with musical polymath Peter Creswell.

By FRANCES HART

Marble and drapes at the Cornwallis Hotel, Brome, surrounded a good-humoured recital of light classics and supper with musical polymath Peter Creswell.

Violin (Geoffrey Barker), cello (Roy Abrams), flute and mezzo-soprano combined in turn, giving the impression of an evening with friends round the piano.

Jenny Hewes sang with excellent diction, ranging from Handel to Chaplin, and drawing warm applause with I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night. Jenny Barker's flute floated delicately through the Allegro Moderato from Arrieu's Sonatine and became a piping shepherd in the beautifully-judged Sicilienne from Pelleas et Melisande by Faure.

The ensemble had great fun with Kohler's Valse des Fleurs and Fletcher's Bal Masque, making me feel I had passed through a time-warp into an inter-war house party, where ladies and gentlemen in evening dress were twirling in a ballroom. A leader of musical life in Zimbabwe, Peter Creswell is now based in North Suffolk and devoting his talents to bringing lesser-known music to the area. In the programme were gems including his own Rondo Grazioso from Sonata in D and a foot-tapping Sunshine from his musical Marimba.