Fate has at last dealt the Royal Opera a winning card. Alongside the many cancellations by star singers that have dogged this season, it must have seemed just another bad day when Nina Stemme withdrew from Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, but good fortune was smiling on the company as it searched for her replacement.

The German soprano Anja Harteros is best known in the UK for winning Cardiff Singer of the World, but that was back in 1999. Since then Harteros has come on in leaps and bounds. Her Amelia on Sunday afternoon was wonderfully sung in every way – generously phrased, effortlessly floated, with a slightly sharp edge at the top of the voice, but always luminous and alive. She also made the character more animated than most, albeit in a generalised way. This was the most impressive debut the Royal Opera has seen for a few years.