With rapturous applause

Gisborne-born soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, 64, “came, sang and conquered” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at a Ravinia gala benefit concert. Looking every inch the beauteous diva in a stunning red-and-black ensemble, Te Kanawa was at her very best in three of Canteloube’s ‘Songs of the Auvergne’, sustained in a pastel hush of sound that perfectly caught their dreamy, folk atmosphere. She softly traced the arching cantilena of two arias from Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’, notes touched in lightly, pathos held at arm’s length, as is the diva’s expressive wont in Puccini. Te Kanawa ended her programme with three encores; roses were presented and standing O’s ruled the night.