A trip out to Rockville is no minor undertaking for a committed city dweller, but the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington hosts a concert series that offers regular enticement. For the Sunday evening recital by Bejun Mehta (his first ever in the Washington area), rain did not prevent an impressive crowd from filling the center's small auditorium. The celebrated American countertenor has been in town this month, for the Washington Concert Opera's performance of Handel's opera Orlando.

The story of Bejun Mehta borders on incredible. He was a celebrated boy soprano, with enough talent to have released a self-titled CD in 1992. When his voice broke into a mediocre baritone, Mehta seemed washed up until he attempted singing as a countertenor, an adult man who sings in the female vocal range, usually in falsetto. Since a 1998 breakthrough performance with New York City Opera, Mehta has sung in operas and concerts around the world. His musical connections have been fortunate — his father is Zubin Mehta's cousin, and he has been championed by Leonard Bernstein and Marilyn Horne — but his success would not have been possible without that remarkable voice.

Countertenors have returned to classical music because of the revival of interest in Baroque opera. For proof of their acceptance, we have only to see that countertenors are now singing on the stages of the world's major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera. Countertenors are even giving recitals in Rockville, and some are claiming repertory far beyond Baroque opera. Mehta was entirely convincing in this recital, a sagely programmed evening of songs that was, with a few minor blemishes, exquisitely performed. His voice is velours from bottom to (almost top), rarely shrill and joined well as it descends into the normal male range. Excellent breath support allows him to spin out lovely, long vocal lines, and he has a charismatic stage presence.

The lion's share of the songs were in German, easy to understand and beautifully pronounced: one would expect nothing less of Mehta, who studied German literature at Yale. The concert opened with a set of lesser-known Mozart songs for the anniversary that refuses to end. It was a bit odd to hear a countertenor sing poems with a female narrator, as in one about a woman burning her lover's songs to her. The most moving piece in the Mozart set was An die Freude (poem by Johann Peter Uz, not Schiller), especially the third stanza, the poet's prayer to his muse, which Mehta sang mostly with his eyes closed. The enthusiastic crowd could not refrain from clapping after almost every song, although the program specifically requested them to hold their applause until the end of each set.

The middle portion of the recital was the most pleasing, with songs by Schubert and Wolf. It was a nice touch to follow Der Tod und das Mädchen, which ended with the piano postlude slowing like the last pulses of the maiden's heart, with Litanei auf das Fest aller Seelen, as a sort of epitaph on the maiden's death. The latter song's refrain has a chromatic descent at its midpoint, which Mehta tuned and set down perfectly each time. In the final Schubert selection, Der Musensohn, it was the rollicking accompaniment with its driving bass that was most pleasing. It seemed to betray the influence of legendary accompanist Gerald Moore, and Kevin Murphy had his piano appropriately scaled to Mehta's voice without ever being a shrinking violet. One could often see him mouthing the words that Mehta was singing, measuring his playing precisely to the demands of the text.

Those listeners who left at intermission missed the best set, the four Hugo Wolf songs that began the second half. Each was a little jewel, if they were all a little on the languorous side. The unexpected harmonic turns of Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag' erhoben (from the Italienisches Liederbuch) and the marvelous non-resolution of the vocal part at the end of Gebet (from the Mörike-Lieder) were high points. The final set of English songs was well chosen, with a most welcome song by Gerald Finzi, The Sigh (from A Young Man's Exhortation, poem by Thomas Hardy). Finzi is one of the composers whose music I wish were performed more often. As for Roger Quilter, who also had three songs in this set, he is the one that Finzi should replace on recital programs. Except for a few strained high notes, the throat inflammation that was reportedly bothering Bejun Mehta was not in evidence, although it may have robbed us of an encore or two.

The next concert at JCCGW will feature the Miró Quartet, on either December 2 (Saturday, 8:30 p.m.) or December 3 (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.). Consult their Web site for ticket and pricing information.