Dame Sarah Connolly on Zarqa Al Yamama, the new opera that brings together the Arab and Western worlds

In the ornate Goldsmiths' Hall near St Paul's, one of Britain's finest opera singers, Dame Sarah Connolly, performs an excerpt from a new work. As her powerful voice fills the room, busts of George III and George IV stare on and chandeliers filled with real candles flicker from the ceiling.

It is mainly what you would expect from a concert ...