LOVE will be in the air at a special concert at Colne Muni next Friday when leading opera singer Rebecca Bottone joins the Manchester Camerata for a pre-Valentine’s Day date.

“I’m so looking forward to it,” said Rebecca, one of the country’s leading sopranos. “And as an added bonus I can get to spend Valentine’s Day with my own Valentine”

Rebecca is married to leading theatre director and choreographer Nick Winston.

She will be joined at the Muni by pianist Ilya Kondratiev.

“I’ve never worked with him before, so that will be a new relationship to build,” she said. “Singing with an orchestra is a different beast to singing with a piano. With just two people on stage, the connection has to be quite strong.

“I never feel that my accompanist is just an accompanist. There are two of us on stage working together to create the right atmosphere.”

Rebecca revealed that she and Ilya will have just two days rehearsal time together before the concert.

“I know it doesn’t sound much time. but that’s pretty normal,” she said.

“We’re not learning the pieces at that point, we both already know them by them - it’s more about working on the performance.”

As someone who has graced the stages of some of the top opera houses, Rebecca is revelling in the freedom that a concert-style show gives her.

“I do more stage work but I do love concerts,” she said. “It’s much more up close and personal and there’s much more freedom as to what I can do on stage in terms of performance.”

The programme for the concert includes Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro and Arditi’s Il Bacio, which has a special resonance with her.

“That’s a piece close to my heart,” said Rebecca whose family come from Italy.

“Getting to perform something so Italian is just joyous,” she said. “It’s a little theme song in Italy about kissing. If I went over to my family’s home town ion the Amalfi Coast most of the town could sing along with us.”

Rebecca hopes that the special theme of the evening will tempt people to the concert who wouldn’t normally attend a classical performance.

“It’s a great concert for people never been to a classical concert before,” she said. “The pieces I’m singing are quite show–off pieces, so for someone new they will be able to hear a real mix of different vocal styles. It’s not heavy going, it should be uplifting.”

Rebecca loves the reaction she gets from people who are new to experiencing classical music live for the first time.

“They are surprised by the power of the voice,” she said. “The number of times people will say ‘but you’re not using a microphone’. I also still get the ‘I thought all opera singers were supposed to be fat’ comment which is such an old-fashioned attitude, I just find it funny.

“One of the greatest delights for me as a performer is when the audience is so excited that they can’t help themselves and clap before the end of a song or gasp when something dramatic or surprising happens.

“People do experience music in different ways but to have that immediacy of response is something that really spurs me on.”

Camerata in Love, Colne Muni, Friday, February 9. Details from 01282 661234 or www.themuni.co.uk