I say ‘appeared with’ because although the audience had come
to hear the Great Divo, the orchestra occupied half the programme without him,
playing splendidly – overtures to I vespri siciliani and La forza del destino,
intermezzos from Manon Lescaut, I Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana, the
Bacchanale from Samson et Delila and the winsome Meditation from Thaïs (lovely solo from
concertmaster Laura Hamilton).
Daughter Dora, possibly to be provocative, said she enjoyed
their pieces most in the concert.
Of course, Jonas was there too, in excellent voice,
providing clear evidence of why he has emerged as the leading tenor of our day –
voice bright with a baritonal tinge, together with an unusually total command
to the Italian and French styles, as well as his native Austro-German.
The audience bayed its approval, the standing ovation
lasting some twenty-five minutes and interrupted by four gratefully received
encores, the final one rendered in German, then English – ‘You are my heart’s
delight’.
We had tickets for this take-out-a-mortgage event courtesy
of our two New Best Friends in Sydney, to whom grateful thanks.
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