It seems rather strange that Torontonians had to wait until now for a von Stade appearance. At 64, the mezzo is on a farewell tour that will bring her stage career to an end in a year or so. Well, better late than never, is probably what her fans will have said, and they certainly will have found the concert full of appeal. Varied in nature, the chosen program set off von Stade's warm mezzo to perfection. Her musical journey through 40 years of appearing on opera and concert stages offered humor and sometimes a serious tone.

Von Stade's special guest for the evening, soprano Isabel Byrakdarian, sang Antonin Dvořįk's Song to the Moon from Rusalka. Byrakdaian has a lush voice that is always a welcome addition to any performance. The singers followed this with the humorous Cat Duet attributed to Gioachino Rossini. It ended the first part of the program with a lot of smiles and laughter, and served, perhaps, to underline the rivalry that exists at times between singers/divas. Different performers join von Stade in other cities.

Accompanied by pianist and composer Jake Heggie, von Stade opened the program with I am a Rose, a very short song by Noel Rorem. She followed this with the well known La Vie en Rose by Luis Gugliemi. Heggie, the composer of the operas Dead Men Walking and The End of the Affair among others, proved himself to be not only an excellent accompanist in full harmony with the mezzo-soprano, but also a talented composer of songs. His Paper Wings from a cycle of songs of that name showed a fine musical sensibility which von Stade brought out to the fullest.

The first part of the program also features such composers as Maurice Ravel, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland and Francis Poulenc among others.

The second part opened on a serious note with Gustav Mahler's Lob des hohen Verstands from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. A song from Jules Massenet's Werther and two from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon emphasized von Stade's love of the French repertoire. She completed the program with two American composers, Steven Sondheim and Heggie.

Dressed in colorful evening gowns by Toronto designer Rosemarie Umetsu, von Stade regaled the audience between songs with personal recollections of her life and career. She did this with such easy that is seemed to be a natural thing to do for a singer of her stature. Perhaps Heggie's Primary Colors at the end of the evening said it all: "I live my life in primary colors/ I let praise or blame fall where they may/ I hold my soul in equanimity . . ." With these words von Stade left her audience with the feeling that she knows where and how she will spend her retirement after a satisfying career.