It is not often that you can honestly add an extra star to a review for atmosphere, setting and general joie de vivre, but this effervescent event deserves it.

It is not often that you can honestly add an extra star to a review for atmosphere, setting and general joie de vivre, but this effervescent event deserves it.

The Sirens of Titan, an amateur choir based around the west end of Glasgow, augmented by the Glasgow Youth Choir, acquitted themselves well in tackling the tricksy Carmina Burana, Orff's sometimes confoundingly bitty song cycle. In particular, the well-known but nonetheless hauntingly powerful opening and closing sections were poised and punchy. The percussion, provided by RSAMD students, was precise and added colour to this version, which was accompanied by pianos rather than the full orchestra originally intended by Orff. The Glasgow Youth Choir sang sweetly (and, impressively, without scores).

Carmina Burana, a secular rumination on beauty, fortune, love and springtime, also requires soloists to sing some fiendish individual parts, and here the baritone Benjamin Weaver sang with some real power, while Rachael Brimley, the soprano, was lyrical and precise in some glistening passages at the centre of the song cycle.

Like most amateur choirs, the Sirens of Titan could do with more male singers, but excellent conductor Paddy Cunneen kept the piece moving through some of its choppier changes in tone and tempo. But the real joy of this night was the atmosphere in the packed Oran Mor hall: celebratory, excited, supportive and wonderfully warm. Pin-drops could have been heard in the recital's quieter moments, and the performers received deservedly resounding cheers at the end. Orff's most famous piece can be dangerously po-faced, but the character of this night was anything but. The extra star is well deserved.