Audra McDonald brought her nationwide tour to a place where the four-time Tony Award winner is quite at home—the New York City stage—when she performed at Carnegie Hall Saturday night. McDonald's performance was met with what the New York Times music critic Stephen Holden calls "an unbroken wave of adoration" from the Carnegie Hall crowd.

In the New York Times review of this long-awaited and highly anticipated return, Holden says McDonald "is a one-of-a-kind musical super-talent," such that, "as a singer she is an irreplaceable resource."

Saturday's program opened with Cole Porter’s “I Happen to Like New York,” which "played into one of Ms. McDonald’s essential qualities, her aura of almost uncontainable enthusiasm," writes Holden in the Times. "That sense of excitement, in which she tugs a song forward emotionally, is inherent in the quickness and tang of her vibrato, as though feelings are pouring out of her almost faster than they can be reined in. Her soprano voice is stronger than ever, its mighty middle range a daunting power tool."

Read the complete concert review at nytimes.com.

This echoes the assessment of the Los Angeles Times's Chris Pasles, who, when reviewing her recent performance at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, says "Audra McDonald is amazing. She becomes the character of every song she sings. Yet she slips easily in and out of character to charm with personal stories ... McDonald made it all seem easy. Don’t be deceived. Behind that illusion is lots of hard work. McDonald is one in a million."

NY1 went behind the scenes to catch a rehearsal of McDonald and orchestra before the Carnegie Hall performance for a piece you can watch at ny1.com.

Up next on Audra McDonald's fall tour is a stop at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College in upstate New York this coming weekend, followed by a return to New York City for a special show at Joe's Pub with David Byrne, Tony Kushner, Aimee Mann, Angelique Kidjo, and others on Sunday to benefit the Freedom Theatre of the Jenin Refugee Camp in the Palestinian-occupied territories. For all the remaining scheduled tour dates, see below; for more information and ticket links, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour. To peruse McDonald's Nonesuch catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.

Following the tour, Audra McDonald returns to New York City for the Broadway run of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, in which she stars as Bess, opposite Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sportin' Life, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Previews begin December 17 and opening night is on January 12. For tickets, go to porgyandbessonbraodway.com.

AUDRA McDONALD ON TOUR