Sunday night, celebrated coloratura Sumi Jo gave a recital in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. This concert, which should have been a major musical event, was not publicized well — I did what I could by recommending it the previous Sunday — and therefore sadly undersold. Jo is celebrating her 20th anniversary as an opera singer with a recital tour, apparently self-funded. In true diva style, she wore three different gowns, of increasing levels of outrageousness, over the course of thirteen pieces of music.

The most astounding musical moment was one of the five encores that the Korean-born soprano sang, Les oiseaux dans la charmille, or Olympia’s song from Offenbach’s opera Tales of Hoffmann. This role is one of Jo’s best — she is shown in her costume for the Los Angeles Opera at right — the mechanical doll that sings several minutes of coloratura pyrotechnics, hardly a tribute to the intelligence of the highest voice part in opera but impressive and beautiful music. If you have never heard it, go and listen to Natalie Dessay’s absolutely wondrous rendition with the Opéra de Lyon, through the miracle of Youtube. Prepare to have your mind blown away by the high notes. No, really, I mean HIGH notes.

The program itself was not bad either, although it was not stuffed with old soprano favorites. Jo began with a Baroque Italian set, opening with two excellent arias from the operas of Antonio Vivaldi (yes, he of The Four Seasons was also a composer of some remarkable operas). The fast one, Agitata da due venti (from Griselda), is a stunningly difficult storm aria, which set the tone for a recital that the singer titled, somewhat awkwardly, “Beautiful Challenge.” One of Jo’s strengths is her agility in complicated passagework, even in the highest part of her range, and that was certainly on display here. The slow aria, Sposa, son disprezzata (from Bajazet), showed off Jo’s other vocal asset, a shimmering and pure pianissimo on very high notes.