The programme presented by the National Chamber Choir at the National Gallery yesterday evening worked well. There were three works by Baroque composers from Italy and four by 20th-century Frenchman; and these groups of unaccompanied music were linked by piano music - two Scarlatti sonatas and two of Debussy's Preludes. The pianist was Marie Jones, who played confidently, though the results were not always focused.

The choral sound which opened the concert was excellent. Well-defined pitch, rhythm and words (oh, for some translations!), and evenly-balanced, sensuous lines produced an impressive and moving account of Lotti's Crucifixus.

Not all the performances were as good as that one in exploring the music's profundity. Colin Mawby's conducting of Poulenc's Exultate Deo produced a jerky effect, and Allegri's Miserere was too persistently languorous for such a long, repetitious piece; though it was helped by good soloists and by Mary O'Sullivan's controlled singing of the celebrated soprano part. Mess iaen's O sacrum convivium was firm, but did not have that ethereally floating motion which can make it memorably effective.

Nevertheless, the Lotti was not the only highlight. Performances of Durufle's Ubi caritas and Poulenc's Salve Regina were among the several striking moments in this concert.