*** The Heritage Concert, which has become an annual celebration of Bermuda's musical talent, lived up to its reputation this weekend with a diverse and gloriously delivered programme.

Presented by the Arts Council and Department of Cultural Affairs (with Marjorie Stanton as producer), there were both musical favourites -- and a couple of musical revelations.

As always, director and conductor Marjorie Pettit had meticulously rehearsed the participants in this mammoth event and, as always, she attained moments that were as near perfection as this Island is ever likely to hear.

She is, of course, very ably supported by Bermuda's finest musicians who play in her orchestra, a relatively small but accomplished choir and, again, this year, by some outstanding soloists.

Handel's "Zadok the Priest'' provided a dramatic opening, with orchestra and choir uniting in the soaring splendour of this most regal of coronations anthems culminating in the heart-stopping "God Save the King'' (it was composed for the 1727 crowning of George II).

Making their debut at a Heritage Concert were members of Mrs. Pettit's St.

John's Senior Girls Choir, who excelled in two short pieces by Cesar Franck and early 18th century Italian composer G.B. Pergolesi. Fiona Lee was the soloist in orchestra leader Kerry Haslam's arrangement of Franck's lovely "Panis Angelicus'' from the "Messe Solenelle''. Here is a young singer of great promise, already possessing a voice of intriguing warmth and strength.

The girls' choir also gave a rigorously rehearsed and sweet rendition of the Quando Corpus and Amen from Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater''.

Timothy Rhodes, teacher of brass at Saltus Grammar School and the Bermuda Academy of Music arrived in Bermuda with an impressive track record: a prize-winning graduate of the Royal College of Music and lead trumpeter in their three orchestras, he has played in London's West End, with the English Mozart Players, principal trumpet with the King's College Choir, Cambridge, the London Baroque Players, the London Mozart Players and, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was the solo trumpeter at the opening of London's Globe Theatre.

Haydn's three-movement Trumpet Concerto in E flat major is, understandably, one of his most famous works, resonating as it does with technical ingenuity and memorably melodic themes. It requires a soloist of undoubted virtuosity, an aptitude demonstrated with breathtaking brilliance by Timothy Rhodes.

Impeccable timing and purity of tone combined with a real sense of joie de vivre to make this a radiantly triumphant rendition. He was superbly supported by the orchestra in this ever-popular work, led, as usual, by Kerry Haslam.

The first half ended with the "Magnificat'' generally attributed to Pergolesi, who died at the very early age of 26 and about whom little is known. Guest soloists from the US who joined the choir in this little-heard work included Gary Burgess's pupil, soprano Chris Vallis and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Saunders, tenor Jeffrey Halili and baritone Tim Welch -- both also Burgess pupils and, altogether, an impressive quartet of singers.

Soprano Marcelle Clamens and Timothy Rhodes (trumpet) were the soloists in Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim'' from "Samson'', the aria sung by Kiri Te Kanawa at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. This was a luminous performance, Clamens handling this demanding piece with ease and pitch-perfect tonal quality. Her second offering -- one that has become almost her hallmark -- proved to be another highlight of the evening. The famous Countess's aria from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro'' is one of haunting and wistful longing for her notoriously unfaithful husband, and Marcelle Clamens captured exquisitely, the sense of quiet despair. A singer of awesome talent and magnetic stage presence, she has a voice that truly thrills -- and it certainly thrilled Saturday evening's audience.

She was then joined by Saunders, Vallas, Halili, Welch and Peter Nash in the equally lovely and ironically lighthearted sextet from Mozart's comedy of errors, "Cosi Fan Tutte''. Here was a quite brilliant account of this fun-filled extract, the six voices melding in that glorious Mozartian `conversation' so characteristic of his genius.

"The First Walpurgis Night'' by Mendelssohn, described by Marjorie Pettit as "one of the finest secular cantatas of the 19th century'', is a massive work scored for orchestra, double (eight-part) chorus and soloists. Set to the poem by Goethe, it is a deeply Germanic work, delving back into the mists of paganism, and the legend of Walpurgis Night when, on the eve of May Day, witches gathered in ceremonial rites on a peak in the Harz mountains. In this version, we are confronted with the struggle between Druids and Christians in a highly dramatic encounter that would appear to make the coming of spring a rather perilous affair. Rarely performed because it is a highly difficult work, it positively reverberates with Mendelssohnian touches, vividly atmospheric in its orchestration: passages lit with sunny landscapes and quiet pastoral beauty are shattered as witches fly, owls and ravens sweep, howling through the night in a satiric expose of the sensationalist-type bigotry that has maintained a presence ever since Christianity supplanted the ancient ways of the Druids.

It starts out quietly enough, with an exquisite opening aria from Gary Burgess in which he describes the iciness of winter giving way to spring. Mezzo Elizabeth Saunders took on the alto role, warning of death and slaughter, with Peter Nash -- in very fine form -- singing the Druid Priest, confident that courage will conquer `slavish fear'. Bass Tim Welch brought sonorous richness to the part of the Druid Guard who warns against the `bigot rabble' of the upstart Christians.

The choir, rehearsed apparently, within an inch of its musical life, coped extraordinarily well, particularly the climactic splendour of the "Witches' Chorus'', all accompanied by an inspired orchestra that did more than justice to this exciting work. All in all, an evening to remember.

PATRICIA CALNAN Marcelle Clamans: Luminous performance.

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