"It was amazing. I remember it like it was yesterday. I came on stage and 1,900 people applauded. It was like a shower of appreciation washing over me.

"When you live and work in Europe, you don't realize there is a fan base in China. It is so overwhelming."

Hakvoort gave two more recitals at Shanghai Culture Square on Saturday and Sunday, when she performed English and German songs from important productions from her musical career through the decades.

The show was part of the 2025 Musical Stars Live Concerts, a new series introduced this year by Shanghai Culture Square. Her colleague Mark Seibert, who is familiar to Chinese audiences as Death in Elisabeth, performed on Feb 8 and 9, followed by a strong cast including French singer Laurent Ban.

Zhang Yixin, a 27-year-old school teacher, attended the Saturday concert in traditional Chinese clothing and there were also youngsters dressed up as Elisabeth and Death.

"I came to her concert the year before, saw Lady M last year, and watched many of her other productions on video," Zhang tells China Daily. "I love Maya for her powerful voice and portrayal of powerful female characters."

According to Zhu Guang, a theater critic in Shanghai, part of the reason Hakvoort is widely loved by musical fans in China is that "female audiences project their preference for the power and determination in the roles she plays, especially Elisabeth, a show that combines rationality and sensibility, historical narrative and philosophical reflection".

In China, the majority of those attending musicals are female and they identify with characters such as Sisi, and even the murderous Lady Macbeth, Zhu says.

Modern urban Chinese women want to "control their fate, have real power, and freely express their emotions as Maya does in the show". Her vocal strength is "second to none among all the female musical actors on tour in China," Zhu adds.

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn