£26.50 & up—Night at the Opera by candlelight

Excellent venue, excellent orchestra. The whole "candlelight" thing is a bit overstated though - only people right at the front can see the candles and they were a bit of a token effort. Still lovely atmosphere though.

The Cathedral was too cold and therefore uncomfortable

Although cold, due to heating problems, the cathedral created a wonderful setting for the concert, which was amazing! The percussion in polar express, resounded around the cathedral, so much so, you could imagine a train arriving at any moment!

Delightful evening at Christmas time

Looking forward to another concert

Really enjoyed. Lovely venue.

Fabulous and well organised.

It was truly magical. The cathedral was beautiful, but it was the sound that was so amazing, if you closed your eyes it was like listening with headphones on. Just fabulous.

Would recommend.

The pieces of music in the second half were, in the main, known to us and the planned encore was the best piece of the night. The audience applause following the final piece wouldn't, in my opinion, have prompted an encore. The musicians appeared to 'get into the spirit' during the encore; something that was missing from most of the rest of the performance.

Access to the venue was difficult to find, not least because there was a Christmas Market in full swing right outside the venue. No directions were visible to the entrance and when we located it, with the help of a road-sweeper, we had to cut through, between the stalls and pick our way through the youths sitting on the steps to the hall, enjoying their fast-food and drinks from the market. The music from the Christmas Market drowned out the quieter pieces of music. To top it all, a group of around 15 or so attendees (including me and my wife) were locked-in behind a security door, when we were coming back from the toilets. The door was open, when we went to the toilet but had been closed whilst we were in the toilets. Unfortunately, it needed a swipe card to open it, which none of us possessed! Because the toilets were quite a way away from the hall, we were unable to alert security to our plight. Fortunately, a lady was able to call her mother who informed security, who managed to get a swipe card and 'release' us! Whether or not it was an accidental closure or part of the shutting down actions, I don't know, but I'd suggest that the venue owners review their processes and procedures and either implement a way of keeping the door in the corridor unlocked/held open during the concert but, if it was part of their closing-down procedures, then they include a check of the toilets, which are some distance beyond the offending doors and down a flight of stairs, before locking them. The musicians were obviously very talented but the majority of the pieces in the first half were unknown to us and, judging by the number of people who didn't return to their seats, unknown to quite a few others too.

The atmosphere in the Cathedral was very spectacular

It wasn't very Christmassy, the band weren't that good on the night - the french horn player specifically had a bad night and the programme was poor. Also the newseats put in at st Ed's Cathedrale are the most uncomfortable I have ever sat on.

Lovely setting, shame seats so uncomfortable

Lovely venue, performance was only an hour, so bit expensive