THERE ARE some artistes whose stage presence is instant and captivating, and that is certainly the case with Dame Kiri te Kanawa, writes Garry Fraser.

Her performance on Sunday night in Perth City Hall was one of elegance and exceptional quality, bringing this year’s Perth Festival of the Arts to a fitting conclusion.

The names of Vivaldi’s operas might not trip off the tongue, but their contents are eminently listenable.

Dame Kiri’s interpretation and delivery of three arias was superb, each contrasting the other nicely.

I particularly liked the middle Lo Son Gelsomino, from Arsilda Regina di Ponto, a lovely piece with an interesting and lively string accompaniment.

The opera output of Vivaldi’s contemporary, Handel, was considerable and we were given two excerpts, of which Piangero la Sorte Mia, from Giulio Cesare, was especially good.

She ended the first part of the programme with two Mozart concert arias.

There was an operatic theme to both, but the second, Nehmt Meinen Dank, was delivered in sensational style.

Her contribution to the second part started with two arias from The Marriage of Figaro, Porgi Amor and Dove Sono. The former was divine, the latter delectable.

However, Dame Kiri could better that and ended with a marvellous flourish with three songs from a song cycle by Hector Berlioz, Les Nuits d’Ete.

The second one, Le Spectre de la Rose, was especially good, with a lovely sense of drama.

Throughout the evening, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Julian Reynolds, played a perfect supporting role and when they were given the chance to shine on their own did so with customary efficiency.

The Handel overture to Giulio Cesare was crisp, with an energetic fugue, and their Figaro overture was taken at a blistering yet ultimately successful pace.

But they were at their best with a glorious performance of Ravel’s Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte.

The soloist responded to a rapturous ovation with two splendid encores—a strangely-familiar La Rosa y el Sauce by Carlos Guastavino and a tear-jerking O Mio Babbino Caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

Perth City Hall has hosted many marvellous concerts, but I’m sure only a few will rank with Sunday’s world-class performance.