German opera singer Nastassja Nass performs at the Shortwood Teachers' College concert on Sunday. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

The saying "all's well that ends well" might have summed up the feelings of the audience at the Shortwood Teachers' College concert on Sunday. Despite a late start and a number of mishaps and organisational failings during the function, patrons were, in the end, left happy.

That's because of the outstanding performances of the featured artistes. The main one was Nastassja Nass, a soprano described in the programme as a "German classical music star".

Nass' superb voice and delivery alone would have justified the metaphor, but just as captivating were her frequent, friendly smiles and the warm personality she projected as she sang, danced and acted out her several songs.

College board Chairman, Earl Richards, explained that some years ago, Nass had visited the institution and promised to return and give of her time and talent to the college - hence her appearance at the concert.

"We're grateful to you for your generosity of spirit and heart," he told the singer, going on to mention again the purpose of the concert. It was to raise funds for the college's Early Childhood Institute, the first building of which had recently been built.

The other performers - all Jamaican stars - were singers Cecil Cooper (tenor) and Dimario McDowell (baritone), as well as pianist Allison Wallace, whose outstanding accompaniment on piano deservedly received strong applause as she took her final bow.

CURTAIN TIME

( L - R ) McDowell, Cooper

The slapping of palms, which at the end of the concert at 8:45 p.m. signified gratitude and congratulations, had quite a different meaning at 5:45 p.m. Then, because 'curtain time' was 15 minutes overdue, the clapping showed impatience and annoyance.

Emcee Rupert Gallimore tried to placate the audience, indicating that Nass was "not 100 per cent ready" for her appearance. Nevertheless, he said, a start would be made "at six o'clock, regardless".

His amusing remark caused laughter, more of which he was to evoke later with a couple of good jokes. They did not compensate, however, for his egregious mispronunciation of numerous names and musical terms throughout the function. A little preparation would have helped.

It also turned out that, contrary to his suggestion, Nass was not to blame for the late start. Richards came on to explain that cocktails should have been from 5:30-6:00 p.m., but the time was changed and it would be during the intermission instead.

Apparently, Nass had been misled about the starting time. Half-an-hour makes a big difference in the warm-up period of both an athlete and a singer.

McDowell also had a problem. Explaining why his initial appearance was delayed, he said, "The flu bug got me. I couldn't say no to it, but I'll still try (to sing)."

And try he did, proving that even with the flu, a professional singer can still sound reasonably good. In his first song, Schubert's Ave Maria, his voice sounded raspy, but by his second half numbers, The Prayer (in a duet with Nass) and You'll Never Walk Alone, he seemed to have overcome the challenges.

EXPRESIVE GESTURES

The concert started off with Nass singing four songs, one by Mozart and three by Richard Strauss. As they were in Italian and German, their introduction and explanation by the emcee was welcome.

Nass completely won over the irritated audience from the first item, Mozart's Porgi Amor from The Marriage of Figaro, with her smile, her charm, her expressive gestures and, above all, her rich, wide-ranging voice. It was with her second set, though, as she sang the complex, demanding Verdi aria Vieni t'affretta accendere (from his opera Macbeth) that she showed just how great she was.

Her performance equalled a Usain Bolt Olympic gold-medal run. The audience applauded enthusiastically and even Cooper, who came out next, had to pause before he started singing. "I'm still recovering (from Nass' tour de force)," he explained.

Cooper's first song was the dramatically delivered Music of the Night (from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera). Along with Gethsemane (from Webber's Jesus Christ Super Star) which he sang in the second half, it is evidently one of his favourite, and hence often-sung, pieces.

In all, 20 songs were sung by the three performers, and all were done well, some superbly. But two other highlights deserve special mention.

One was Nass' rendition of two Jamaican folk songs, Liza and Nobody's Business. Both were sung tunefully and expressively, and, amazingly, the singer managed to get a genuine Jamaican inflection on most of the words.

The other highlight was a presentation of orchids to former Jamaican international singing star Mercedes Kirkwood. Now 88, and wobbly on her legs, she showed she still had a strong speaking voice as she thanked her daughter, Maria Azan, for the tribute she delivered.

When Kirkwood tried to sing, her voice kept cracking, but the audience, by then in a good mood, helped her out by singing along.

The performance section of the delightful concert ended with McDowell and Cooper singing My Way. Nass hummed along.

Richards' overlong closing remarks were made to a rapidly dwindling audience. The fact should have driven home the point, if it had not been noted already, that event-planning calls for attention to the tiniest detail.