SUMMER arrived just in time for more than 7,000 concert-goers who attended this year's Wilton House concert and fireworks extravaganza on Saturday night.

After weeks of cold and rain, it was close to a perfect summer evening, dry and warm. It all helped to evoke the special magic that characterises the now traditional Wilton House open-air concert.

Staged in association with the Salisbury Journal, this year's event was the eighth, and it contained all the ingredients that have become such a familiar part of the Wilton House event picnics on the grass or at beautifully-decorated tables complete with champagne, candlelight and a happy party atmosphere.

Covent Garden Classics was the theme chosen by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Claire Rutter and baritone Stephen Gadd helping the orchestra through such favourites as La Traviata, The Barber of Seville, Madam Butterfly and the Carmen Suite.

After the interval, the crowd was enthralled by a trip through the evergreen hit shows of Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma and West Side Story, eventually bringing the evening to its climax with Wagner's The Ride of the Valkyries accompanied by what many regarded as the best firework display ever staged at Wilton House.

Compere for the evening was again the ever-popular Sean Rafferty, and the orchestra was under the baton of Andr de Ridder.