A formidable and finely nuanced technique with a nice dash of humour.

When the Utzon Musical Series’ presented its first classical guitarist in some time with this recital by Xuefei Yang, it seemed that the spirits at least of two of the greats of the instrument were also in the room.

When the Australian guitarist John Williams first heard Yang play he gave two of his Greg Smallman guitars to Beijing’s conservatorium – she played one of them in this recital – and the 37-year-old virtuoso finished her program with a wonderful sonata dedicated to Julian Bream by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer.

And who knows, perhaps the greatest of them all, Andres Segovia, was smiling benignly down as well.

It’s easy to see why Yang is considered special. She gave her first recital at the age of 10 with such acclaim that the Spanish ambassador gave her a concert guitar, and she was the first Chinese student to be given a scholarship to London’s Royal Academy of Music.

On top of that her first concert in Madrid was attended by the great Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, whom she honoured again in the Opera House’s Utzon Room with a performance of his Invocacion...