South African soprano Golda Schultz joined the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Robin Ticciati for a Saturday night at the BBC Proms celebrating some of the 20th century’s most distinctive composers. The evening opened and closed in purely orchestral mode, with Ticciati and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe framing the programme between Schreker’s lush Chamber Symphony and the glittering fireworks of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Both showcased the ensemble’s clarity and colour, though in very different ways: the Schreker’s dreamy textures floated delicately through the Albert Hall, while the Firebird blazed with taut rhythm and dramatic sweep.

Between these orchestral bookends,Schultz took centre stage. She began with Gershwin’s ‘By Strauss’, a sardonic, self-deprecating number which she delivered with zing and humour. She seemed wholly absorbed in Kurt Weill’s ‘Lost in the Stars’ – a tune narrating a character’s crisis in faith – closing her performance with an angsty cry. Her clear highlight, though, was ‘Summertime’ from Porgy and Bess – a song almost burdened by its familiarity. Her take was full of yearning and plaintive beauty, capped by a dazzling final note that hung in the air.