This event marked the Australian debut of the fabulous American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world’s most distinguished current opera stars.

Early in her career DiDonato specialised in the Baroque and Classical period vocal repertoire but she has recently expanded into a wider range of music genres. She possesses a powerful but pure toned and flexible voice that exudes a warmth and charisma that entrances the listener.

Joyce DiDonato and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Caleb Miller

Berlioz Les nuit d’eté, Op. 7 (Summer Nights), six songs that reflect a great variety of mood in the many facets of love, was an ideal vehicle to demonstrate the singer’s vocal range and colour. Her performance was a triumph in its control, expressiveness and the ability to identify with the emotional content.

Le spectre de la rose had a dreamlike character that was mesmerising. Following a well-deserved audience ovation, the encores, if anything, were even more affecting – a wonderfully sensual Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen and a beautiful rendition of the Arlen/Harburg standard Over the Rainbow.

Joyce DiDonato and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Caleb Miller

The TSO was in fine fettle for a fizzing performance of the Johann Strauss II Die Fledermaus Overture to open the program. It is a great credit to the orchestra and its conductor Eivind Aadland that the first half of the program did not overshadow a superbly wrought Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92. Aadland is a distinguished interpreter of this familiar repertoire and he brought buoyant rhythms, high energy and scrupulous attention to dynamic detail to bear on this great work.

There was some wonderfully controlled soft playing in the Allegretto second movement and one of the fastest and most thrilling accounts of the final Allegro con brio that I can recall. Guest Principal players Rachel Bullen (oboe) and Alison Mitchell (flute) deserve special mention.

Joyce DiDonato features in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Spring Gala on 20 and 22 November, Hamer Hall, Melourne.