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The grand reception hall was heaving, everyone sipping the complimentary glasses of champagne, munching on tasty nibbles and brimming with anticipation for the night's entertainment, the annual opera event. People had travelled from far and wide for this special event at the Balor Arts Centre in Donegal town for the Welsh National Opera's production of Carmen! This year it was even more exciting as this was the tenth anniversary and to mark the occasion, the guest tenor and soprano were none other than internationally renowned and loved Luigi Zannetti and Natalia Zadorov ! The tickets had been sold out within two days due to the price being offered at discount to celebrate the anniversary.

Assumpta Duncannon could not have possibly missed this chance as Luigi was her most favourite tenor and to get a chance to see him at such a bargain price was one in a million. Assumpta's sister Orla, an artist and lover of all the arts had arranged the tickets online and so this is how the pair of them ended up in the bustling throng of opera buffs from all over Ireland and further afield.

This was not their first time here of course, their passion for music and opera had seen the sisters make the trip to Donegal many a year. Tonight there was an extra special magic in the air and apart from the champagne and their favourite singers, there was also going to be a pre-talk by one of opera world's greatest tenors, retired now of course, and opera directors Sir Matthew Collingsworth who was directing this production of Carmen as well, which was the cherry on the cake.

The ladies were flushed with excitement as they wove their way through the opera goers, chattering away. There were quite a few regulars whom they met there every year, waving and smiling to each other, tand they stopped here and there to make small talk. In the midst of the mayhem, they heard two voices calling out to them,

'Ey up girls, you two are a sight for sore eyes!'

There was no mistaking those deep, rich Yorkshire tones, Charlie and his brother Richard!
'Oh! Am I glad to see you two, to be sure!' exclaimed Assumpta and Orla in unison, laughing at their telepathic moment.

'' Ah, lassies, we weren't going to miss this night for all the tea in Ireland and we were hoping we would see you two fair ladies. Shall we do the usual and meet up for a late dinner after the performance and discuss Carmen?'' ventured Charlie

This had become another highlight for the ladies as Charlie and Richard were well known in opera circles for their knowledge and appreciation of the art. They also donated a fair amount to the arts being successful businessmen with their own construction company.

''To be sure we will, it's our tradition!'' Orla beamed.

Orla, green eyes shining, looked exceptionally fetching tonight, Assumpta thought, in a lemon and pale blue chiffon trouser suit with a lovely cashmere wrap around her shoulders. Her red hair piled up in a chignon and her green eyes aglow. Assumpta saw Richard appreciative looks as he watched Orla, Charlie was a happily married man, but Richard had lost his wife ten years before.

As they were chatting, a loud voice at least ten decibels above everyone else's boomed out,
'' Yes, well I told old Matty it's better to stick to Carmen, you know, not too highbrow for these parts, I mean, it's not like we are at Covent Garden or the Met now is it? '' the 'voice' guffawed loudly.
His companion, Daniel, looking decidedly uncomfortable, smiled nervously, his eyes darting around the room, Giles could be a bit much at these venues, especially after a few glasses of bubbly.

'Well, you know Giles, Carmen is a very beloved and popular opera,' Daniel mumbled timidly, 'it is actually one of my personal favourites.'
'Of course, I will acknowledge that there are a few rousing songs in there, but obviously not in the same league as Tosca or Turandot, even Traviata, which are clearly far over the heads of most of these people here.'
Giles' voice was getting louder and louder with each glass of champagne and Daniel's face was getting more and more flushed. The others were beginning to stare with disapproval written all over their faces. Assumpta fists were clenching and her lips were set in a firm line,

''Hhumph! I'd love to give him a tray over his head!'

Her face looked so fierce that the other three couldn't help themselves and burst into laughter at the sight.
'Well, really, who does he think he is Verdi himself!?' She puffed out her chest in that bossy pigeony way that she had which said, 'Don't mess with me!'

Sir Matthew stood up on the small podium in the corner of the room and a hush fell on the hall.

'Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the tenth anniversary of, 'Opera for All!' I am so pleased to see so many familiar faces among you and I know that tonight will be an absolute thrill for all of us. Just a quick hello from you all please to welcome our stars Luigi Zannetti and Natalia Zadorov.'

Thunderous applause broke out with chants of bravi, bravi! The stars smiled benevolently at their fans.
Giles elbowing people out of the way, pushing to the front shouting out to the singers, 'Toi, toi, toi!'',
Charlie frowned and whispered to his companions,

''Bloody pretentious poseur-bet he doesn't know half the things he pretends to and I know he has no clue what toi,toi,toi even means !''

'So,' Sir Matthew continued,'I have another exciting announcement and a wonderful surprise for you all which I only found out about tonight, about 30 minutes ago to be precise. Our two most generous stars have set three questions for you and the winners will receive a very special prize, an all expenses paid trip to London, two nights in a hotel and two front row tickets for La Boheme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden when Maestro Zannetti will sing the role of Rodolfo with Maestra Zadorov as his Mimi!

The room exploded with cheers and applause.
'Ok, ok then, quiet please and naturally all iPhones must be put away, no cheating haha. Please write your answers on the cards which you were given at the entrance this evening!'

The room fell deadly silent as they all waited with bated breath for the questions, cards in hands.

'Our first question is this, in which year was Carmen first performed?'
There were conspiratorial whispers and slight disagreements going on as they wrote down their answers.
'Second question, who was the very first Carmen?'
'Mmmm a tough one to be sure.'Orla mused
'And last, but not least, who was the librettist?'

Charlie's face lit up at this as he knew this was a trick question.

'Well, pop your cards in the box by the door as you go through into the auditorium for the performance, good luck everyone and enjoy this wonderful performance of Carmen!!'

The opera was everything they had expected it to be, the rousing, emotional music of Bizet, the sublime voices which brought tears to their eyes, flirtatious, flamenco dancing, all of it was just divine! And the company of their old friends made the night perfect! They all agreed it was one of the most memorable nights ever!

When the last curtain call had been taken, leaving the stage strewn with roses, those who had taken part in the mini Carmen quiz made their way back to the hall. A buzz of tension hovered in the air=who had won this wonderful prize?

Sir Matthew welcomed them all in and a glass of wine in their hands they stood fixed upon him as he made the announcement....

'Ladies and gentlemen, I know many of you have dinner reservations, so I'll be quick, the winners of this marvellous prize so generously donated by our stars tonight is Charlie Dingle!!'
'Bravo Charlie!' with shouts of,'It couldn't happen to a nicer man,' rang out.
Just then Giles piped up,
'Now you see here my good man, I got those answers correct too! Answer 1, 1875-answer 2-Célestine Galli-Marié and answer 3-Ludovic Halevy! This is an outrage!'' Giles face had turned puce and he was fuming.

'Quite right sir, yes'.Giles started to preen like an oversized peacock,
'BUT, the last question was a trick question as on Carmen there were actually two librettists, the other namely, Henri Meilhac! Charlie got all three perfectly correct! However, I will be happy to donate a bottle of the best champagne as a runner-up prize'

Giles blustered shouting it was not fair when the main librettist had been Halevy... just then Daniel finding his voice at last shouted out,
'Wait! No champagne Sir Matthew please, Giles cheated, he googled on his iPhone, I recorded him, look!'
Gasps danced around the room as Giles was escorted very reluctantly put of the theatre.

The four friends went off to dinner with lots to talk about, much laughter ensued at Giles expense and a lively discussion about the night's performance until finally at 1 am, they all bid each other a fond farewell with promises to meet next year again.

The next day as they were on the coach home to Bundaron, Assumpta reached into her handbag for some lemon sherbets only to discover a small card with her name on. Curious, she opened it and let out a little squeal of delight.

'What in the world, Assumpta, you frightened me half to death, what's wrong?' Orla exclaimed

'Wrong? Why, nothing at all, dear sister-those dear, sweet men! Just listen to this.'

In a sloping, manly handwriting was written;

'Dear ladies, you can't imagine what joy your friendship brings to us and how much we look forward to your company each year, it makes the event twice as wonderful for us. We were thrilled to win this prize, but as we already have tickets for that night, we decided to give these to two friends whom we know would appreciate them , this means that we can share yet another evening together, in friendship, opera, scintillating conversation and laughter-see you there!'

Charlie and Richard