After her quartet, led by superb pianist, Gunther Kurmayr, opened the show Salena sauntered on resplendent in an elegant cream evening gown. She then stunned the audience with a sublime, heartfelt interpretation of the Lionel Richie pop hit "Hello".

Her beautiful, soaring voice and graceful, relaxed presence caused the audience to erupt into rapturous applause. This was followed by a lovely pensive treatment of Jimmy van Heusen`s "But Beautiful", with a spoken introductory verse which really helped draw the audience into the performance as well as highlighting the marvellous rapport between quartet and singer.

Some words of praise must be delivered here for her quartet – a brilliant cohesive, swinging unit, slightly unusual in that it included a violin, beautifully played by a young oriental woman, adding a delightful extra colour to the music. A vivacious and swinging version of Billy Joel`s " Just the Way You Are" offered the audience another example of Salena`s innate ability to interpret a lyric.

The quartet again opened the second half with a breathtaking version of Gershwin`s classic "Fascinating Rhythm". This tempo was maintained for Salena to come on and demonstrate her perfect diction, intonation and vocal control on Rodger`s & Hammerstein`s "Lover".

Other highlights from this half included the shuffling samba groove of Lennon & McCartney`s "Norwegian Wood", Harold Arlen`s "Over The Rainbow" and Frank Loesser`s "I`ll Know" which were showcases for Salena`s gorgeous, lyrical ballad style – this was evident again in her beautiful reading of Jobim`s touching song "Dindi" – one of four encores that she gave to an enthralled audience that didn`t really want the music to stop.

The panache, perfection and elegance in both her voice and demeanour is only attainable by a gifted artist such as herself, who has now been at the top of her profession for the past four decades, working with the biggest names in the business, and singing and performing to only the highest standards.