Abbandonata was a veritable cornucopia of Baroque musical drama featuring an impressively on-form Prudence Sanders in various incantations of mythical and historical heroines including Cleopatra, Armida and Euridice.

Also included was a fabulous rendition of Francesco Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso La Follia, which confirmed Australian Baroque’s growing prowess as an ensemble of highly skilled and historically informed, yet dramatically sensitive players.

Prudence Sanders, “Abbandonata”. Photo © Brad Coleman

Sanders made a dramatic entrance from the back of the hall preceded by a vibrant Tim White on tenor drum, entering with assurance and grace in a gorgeous all gold glow-mesh power dress, so the audience was primed for some fireworks.

She then proceeded to deliver a formidable collection of vocal music from memory, featuring some of the most demanding coloratura going in any of the known soprano catalogue, early to modern. This is no mean feat and deserves to be singled out for the considerable task this meticulous preparation entails.

Beginning with a completely bonkers aria at a blistering tempo from Carl Heinrich Graun’s Cleopatra e Cesare, this dizzying display of melismatic writing set the tone for what became a showcase of Sanders’ technical prowess,...