Food, wine and opera . . . it’s a potent mix, and last Friday’s opera gala, held to mark the 25th anniversary of the Oxford León Association, was a suitably splendid affair. With tables laid out, restaurant-style, in the magnificent main hall, this was a relaxed, informal occasion — and, of course, one that was all in a good cause. Six singers, some of them more used to treading the boards at the Royal Opera House and the Coliseum, gave their services for nothing to help raise funds for community projects in León in Nicaragua, and they did so with style, panache and humour.

The programme was mainly operatic favourites, so the first half opened with a selection from Carmen, including the Toreador’s song, Votre toast, je peux vous le render (a superb start to the evening by baritone David Stout), Carmen’s Seguidilla, Près des ramparts de Séville (sung in a rich mezzo by Karina Lucas, a late substitute for Carolyn Dobbin, and currently a student at the National Opera Studio) and Don José’s ‘Flower’ song, sung with great sensitivity by tenor John Hudson. A quartet of Mozart arias followed, the highlight of which, arguably, was Quentin Hayes’s energetic ‘Catalogue’ song. A selection of arias from Rigoletto rounded off the first half.

Owing to a late start, the evening was now running over schedule, so the second half began while we were still eating — which added to the informal atmosphere, but meant the singers were battling gamely against a clattering of knives and forks. Highlights included the sublime Au fond du temple saint from The Pearl Fishers — with John Hudson and David Stout giving one of the finest renditions I have heard — and John Hudson’s powerful Nessun Dorma, which was greeted with loud cheers (“Don’t encourage him, he’ll only want to do it again,” quipped compère Quentin Hayes), while the ‘Brindisi’ from La Traviata brought the evening to a glorious finish.