“… but the temperature rose only with the appearance of the Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Kseniia Nikolaieva. Blessed with an imposingly large and fruitily resonant voice that reminded me of those awesome Russian contraltos of the old school such as Irina Arkhipova and Elena Obraztsova, she flung herself into songs by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky (including the chestnut None but the Lonely Heart) to the manner born.”