THE world-famous soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa demonstrated her undiminished flair when she enthralled a sell-out audience.

The Christmas Gala with Northern Sinfonia and the Sinfonia Chorus opened with Vivaldi's Concerto No 4, L'Inverno. Eat your heart out Nigel Kennedy.

Violinist Kyra Humphreys put on a superb performance, with a sharply articulated rendition of the Four Seasons' Winter, setting the tone for what was to follow.

Dame Kiri entered looking for the world like a fairy godmother in her flowing white sequined dress.

And she immediately cast her spell, filling the acoustically challenging hall with her uplifting voice, as she took up the Vivaldi theme - and was disturbed very briefly by some philistine who forgot to turn off his/her mobile.

The Sinfonia gave her a breather with extracts from Corelli, before she returned to perform Brahm's Joseph Wiegenlied. With conductor Julian Reynolds on the piano and Michael Gerrard on the viola providing perfect accompaniment, it was a highlight of the evening.

After the interval, Dame Kiri took to the stage resplendent in seasonal red and weighed in with some hardy annuals, including Coventry Carol, Silent Night and I'll be Home for Christmas. Reminding us all that the whitest thing she will be seeing in a week will be the sunswept beaches of her home New Zealand, she then warmed everyone's cockles with her interpretation of White Christmas.

The programme, supported throughout by the superb Sinfonia Chorus, ended with the traditional Maori song Hine e Hine. After an encore, the audience would still not let Dame Kiri go.

She obliged with another traditional Maori song, which was received in rapt silence, followed by yet more explosive applause. Arms and hands ached.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Published: 15/12/2003