How do you get small children interested in opera?

Corsham festival has the answer. Get them to write a prologue.

Community involvement is one of the secrets of the success of Corsham festival.

Martin Read, the composer of Rainforest, spent a month with children at Corsham Primary School encouraging them to think about endangered species and to create words and music for them.

The results were played to the opera audience last night and the children then stayed to see the complete mini opera.

Read and librettist Philip Sealy tell the evocative true story of Chico Mendes, leader of the rubber tappers' union in the Brazilian rain forest, who was murdered for trying to stop the destruction of the forest by big ranchers who want more space for their cattle - and the burger industry.

It poses a great many moral questions and leaves the audience to find their own answers.

Oper a Minima, as its name suggests, is minimalist in its production. The set was a tree and a couple of wooden chairs, combined with some atmospheric lighting. And it's very effective.

Nothing minimalistic about the voices though.

Adam Leftwich's resonant bass almost rattled the windows and contrasted with Laurie Ashworth's bold, clear soprano.

Eliot Alderman's melodic tenor and Edmund Connolly's pleasing baritone completed a very satisfying and well balanced quartet.