Concerts of operatic highlights given by star performers are regularly a ­ragbag, but more planning than usual had gone into this gala ­featuring ­Russian stars Anna Netrebko and Dmitri ­Hvorostovsky, and a good deal more ­accomplishment. Vocally, both were on top form, Netrebko's luscious soprano matching Hvorostovsky's iron-clad ­baritone bar for bar. Only her lack of trills in the Jewel Song from Faust showed up a gap in her technique.

Hvorostovsky ­commanded the ­concert platform with the same easy glamour he brings to the stage. No ­gesture, physical or vocal, was less than flawlessly realised. His delivery of ­Yeletsky's aria from Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades was controlled with a fineness that easily encompassed ­emotional sincerity, while closing with the final scene from Eugene Onegin gave the pair the opportunity to interact with convincing commitment.

Earlier, Netrebko flaunted ­glittering high notes in Arditi's coloratura showpiece Il Bacio, and deployed a misty-eyed top register in a perfectly ­articulated Song to the Moon from Rusalka. Hvorostovsky shone in a beefy account of Valentin's aria from Faust, and then snarled and pleaded his way through Rigoletto's great Cortigiani solo.

At encore Netrebko nearly brought the house down with a steamy version of Lehár's Meine Lippen Sie Küssen So Heiss – the brazen sexuality of an upstage dance was only ­partially hidden by the second violins. Hvorostovsky's Dark Eyes seemed ­inhibited by comparison, but scarcely less sexily sung.

Lawrence Foster is a cut above the level of conductor usually hired for this sort of event, and he and the ­Philharmonia made a strong showing in the orchestral items.