Melbourne’s lovers of Baroque opera look with envy at each year’s Pinchgut Opera program in Sydney, but finally the company came south after a fashion. Artistic director Erin Helyard brought with him the international star of Pinchgut’s recent production of Artaserse, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, and led the company’s good friends, the Orchestra of the Antipodes, for this one-night-only concert. They came, they performed, they conquered, inspiring the audience to rise to their feet as one.

Vivica Genaux. Photo © RibaltaLuce Studio

With a program of 18th century splendour by Handel, Porpora, Broschi, Vivaldi and Hasse, Genaux revealed why she has become one of the world’s most admired exponents of the Baroque repertoire. Whether scattering top notes like bright jewels, or diving into the contralto register, where her voice takes on a dusky expressiveness, she was at ease, and no technical demand seemed too great. She moved her lips and jaw with disconcerting rapidity to produce roulades as precise as they were extravagant, and her breath control sometimes approached superhuman.

Virtuosic ornamentation was just one way in which Genaux conveyed the music’s emotion. Living up to her name, she is a vivacious performer who seemed...