The Finnish soprano Karita Mattila is a sensation on the operatic stage: as Salome, to name only one role. But she is also a sensation on the recital stage, as she proved at Carnegie Hall four years ago. That was a dazzling, foot-stomping event. And she was good on Wednesday night, too, in the same hall.

She came out in a white dress, looking like a Nordic goddess (easy for her to do). She then sang Barber’s “Hermit Songs,” a shining jewel in the American vocal literature. It has now been more than 50 years since Leontyne Price unveiled them — hard to believe.

Ms. Mattila sang the “Hermit Songs” respectably, and it helped that she was in beautiful voice. This is not always the case, even when Ms. Mattila is singing very well. Vocal beauty is an element of singing, but not the be-all, end-all.

Crucially, Ms. Mattila achieved the desired Barber flow, and her high notes were effortless. She didn’t grab, she didn’t strain. A few notes were problematic, however — particularly the G that ended “Saint Ita’s Vision.” That was in distress. And some intonation was iffy.

Moreover, you could lodge some interpretive complaints. Ms. Mattila used a lot of portamento, sliding around in several songs. I don’t regard “The Monk and His Cat” as so woozy. And I would have voted for more cleanness generally. But it was Ms. Mattila’s recital.

You may be curious about how Ms. Mattila’s English was. I would tell you, but I couldn’t understand a word she sang. Diction was extraordinarily cloudy.

At the piano was Martin Katz, the veteran American accompanist. He has partnered many of the bigs, most prominently Marilyn Horne. Fittingly, he calls her “Numero Uno.” And on Wednesday night, he was in fine form, playing in his compact, tidy, no-nonsense fashion. He is an unusually confident performer, with much to be confident about.

From the “Hermit Songs,” Ms. Mattila moved to a Finnish set. I didn’t understand a word of these songs, either (ha ha). She sang eight songs by four composers, most written around 1900. And she sang her songs smoothly, naturally, and winningly. Now and then, her voice lost vibrato — vibrancy — and went flat. But mainly she sounded royal.

For the second half of the recital, Ms. Mattila came out in a black-and-copper number — slinky. Earlier she had been a goddess, but now she was a vamp. And she proceeded to sing six songs from Wolf’s “Spanish Song Book.” These included a few of that master’s very best songs.

In the first of the set, “Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero,” Ms. Mattila suffered some rotten intonation. But her Wolf was basically reliable, from the technical and musical points of view.

One of the songs was “Alle gingen, Herz, zur Ruh,” that ineffable thing. Did you ever hear Jessye Norman sing it? If so, you were lucky. Ms. Mattila handled it ably, but she did not quite transfix. And Mr. Katz was oddly big and bold in it. Later, Ms. Mattila sang “Bedeckt mich mit Blume,” and spun it nicely.

Almost inevitably, the final song was “Geh, Geliebter, geh jetzt!” (which concludes “The Spanish Song Book” as a whole). You have heard it rendered more pantingly, achingly, and thrillingly — but Ms. Mattila still scored.

From here on out, the printed program was all Spanish. Ms. Mattila sang “The Maiden and the Nightingale” by Granados, in which she did not sound especially Spanish, but in which she sounded beautiful and sincere. And Mr. Katz did a fair imitation of that bird.

He was crackling in Turina’s “Poema en forma de canciones,” and so was his singer. She was stylishly Spanish indeed. To the final song, “Las locas por amor,” Ms. Mattila full-out danced, which was a little showy for a recital. But then, Ms. Mattila is a performer.

Encores? There were three, beginning with Dvorÿák’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me” (which Ms. Mattila much loves). It was wonderful, but also elaborate, and this song is probably more effective simpler. Then Ms. Mattila went to her national bard, Sibelius — although this song was in Swedish!

She ended the evening as she began it — with American music. She sang Gershwin’s “The Man I Love,” and did so powerfully. But Mr. Katz insisted on cuting it up: He interpolated bits from “Rhapsody in Blue” all through. “The Man I Love” is not a novelty; it is a great song. Pity it was treated in this fashion.

But the fans at Carnegie Hall gobbled it up, cheering with adoration.