The King's Singers need no introduction to Bermuda as they have appeared at several previous Festivals. Now, in their 25th anniversary year, they are back again to sing for an adoring audience. And no wonder. It is still possible to be astonished by the sheer artistry of this male vocal sextet whose incredible rise to fame began in the dining hall of King's College, Cambridge.

Since then, they have sung -- if that's an adequate word for the wondrous pot-pourri of sound that pours from these remarkable larynxes -- all over the world. In the process, their blend of artistic virtuosity and quiet humour has had even the most blase of music critics scrambling to find adequate superlatives.

Last night's concert began in merry mood with a lively rendition of What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?, the first in a group of Songs from the British Isles, including the lovely Greensleeves, reputedly written by Henry VIII, a Cornish May Song and then Loch Lomond. This exquisitely plaintive version must have brought a tear to every Scottish eye, and probably a few others besides.

Their set of Italian madrigals brought a capella singing to sublime heights, so perfect was the tonality of their one-to-a-part harmony, presented with an ease and assurance that belies the fiendishly difficult technique.

Fittingly, for Valentine's Day, there followed a selection of love songs, spanning three centuries from Spain, France and England.

Perhaps the most poignantly beautiful song of the entire evening was their version of Shakespeare's Who is Sylvia?, set by Schubert. This was followed by another exquisite poem, Love's Philosophy by that most romantic of poets, Shelley, and set to music by Roger Quilter.

Humour took centre stage in the delightful La Valse a Mille Temps, a Parisian carousel of love as the singers hurtled through dizzying turns of rhythm brimming over with Chevalier-like charm.

It was on to the sparkling sounds from the Danube in the second half of the programme. Pointing out that Perpetuum Mobile was "originally composed for orchestra'', the King's Singers confirmed that they are almost certainly the only group in the world who could make this musical firework sound as though this version was also rendered by an orchestra. For this is what their voices became, in a comical yet amazing evocation of musical instruments that even included a realistic banging of drums and triumphant clashing of cymbals.

There was a tribute to the ever-popular Johann Strauss in the delightful Picnic in the Vienna Woods, a wry and involved tale of modern misadventure that still captured so perfectly, the restrained and graceful waltz rhythms of a bye-gone age.

Then it was away with the music-stands as the group gathered even closer together for a session of Close Harmony. This included a dreamy version of the Beatles' Michelle, then a charming little love song set to words by Spike Milligan, casting aside his role as one of the immortal Goons to speculate on what Lewis Carroll might have sung to the real-life Alice.

All the stops came out in a wild piece as Freddy Feelgood and his Funky Five-Piece Band gave us solo spurts from the trumpet, sax, drums and sonorous double-bass, and culminating in a rousing rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In.

Then it was Queen (is there no limit to their versatility?) in reflective mood with Sea-side Rendezvous and finally, a song by the `Piano Man' Billy Joel, So It Goes, sung with a tenderness which brought that telling brief moment of silence before the packed audience burst into a storm of long applause.

PATRICIA CALNAN THE KING'S SINGERS -- The six-man vocal ensemble who have sung all over the world opened at City Hall last night. There will be a chance to catch up with them at performances tonight, Wednesday and Thursday.