Tight vibratos and excellent breath control were the order of the night on Saturday when Jane Farge treated a crowd of approximately 150 Opera fanatics to a spectacular performance in the City Hall Theatre. Her recital was short, sweet, powerful and very impressive at times.

She handled Handel with aplomb, exhibiting masterful execution with just enough passion to garner the crowd's undying awe.

Mozart brought much more emotion out of her though, with 'An Chloe' her obvious favourite. This set exhibited wonderful placement and a show of emotions, and who could blame her, with lines like "A dark cloud shades my intoxicated eyes, and I then sit, exhausted but blissful, next to you. . ." (translated from the German) to deliver.

The Schumann set revealed a capacity for even more emotion and a range to match that expanded capacity. 'Widmung' was outstanding!

Each set in the first half consisted of three Arias from each respective composer, backed by a solo piano, which was played expertly by Dr. Gary Burgess.

The second half was opened with Purcell's world renowned 'When I Am Laid In Earth' (from the Opera Dido and Aeneas). Jane handled this Soprano standard with quite a bit of skill, and her elocution actually made this English Aria sound kind of good (because we all know there are no really good English Operas).

Next came Barber's 'Must The Winter Come So Soon' (from Vanessa) followed by Ponchielli's 'Voce di donna' (from La Gioconda), Saint-Saens' excellent 'Printemps qui commence' (from Samson et Delila) and Verdi's fabulous 'O don fatale' (from Don Carlo) in which she dropped an impressive portamento on our newly devoted heads.

Each of the above pieces was delivered with style and precision and the ovation at the end earned us (Jane's undying cult following) a splendid encore. Ivor Novello's 'We'll Gather Lilacs' served as our extra treat, and we lapped it up like a heard of thirsty wildebeests. Her final bow was met with a standing ovation, and, as far as I can see, a very well-deserved one.

Vejay Steede