What are your recollections of performing in Mahler’s Resurrection at the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall?

I’ll never forget being offered the mezzo-soprano solo by Melissa King, Director of Artistic Planning for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. When she said, “What about tonight?” I laughed and told her I’d never sung it before. She replied, “It’s you or nothing.”

Thank goodness I’m a good musician and sight-reader. It was a very stressful situation made possible by the incredible team at the SSO, and I couldn’t have done it without the support and incredible guidance under pressure of conductor Simone Young, who quietly and confidently assisted me through the first of those performances.

After the final bars of music had died away, there was a spontaneous standing ovation. Streamers cascaded down onto the stage, and I could have cried with sheer relief.

Deborah Humble. Photo © Rachel Calvo

That performance is now Deutsche Grammophon’s first recording by an Australian orchestra. How does it feel to be part of such a history-making release?

A performance in front of a packed concert hall, a live-to-air worldwide broadcast (wearing an old, badly fitting...