Pianist Craig Terry described Lunga Eric Hallam’s debut program with Vocal Arts DC Monday evening as “an old-fashioned tenor recital.” Heard in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the South African tenor’s selections did indeed range widely, from demanding opera repertoire of the baroque and bel canto periods to folk music, Broadway, and pop. The only thing unifying this motley array was the dulcet beauty of the soloist’s voice.

Opening with “A tanto duol… Ascolta, o Padre,” a blockbuster aria from Vincenzo Bellini’s Bianca e Fernando, was certainly a vocal flex, albeit a perhaps unnecessary one. Hallam rendered the cavatina introduction with a luscious legato tone, arching up to a high C at the cadenza. Even higher stretches awaited in the concluding cabaletta, including two high F’s far above the staff. These almost superhuman notes induce stress under the best conditions, let alone at the start of a recital.

Hallam and Terry established a different sort of mastery with three worthy songs by John Ireland, performed in a slightly different order than printed in the program. Set to sentimental poetry, these simple but effective pieces featured Hallam’s exquisite rubato phrasing, shadowed elegantly by Terry at the keyboard. In particular, the tenor’s refined head voice suited the melting pianissimo dynamic of these songs’ most tender lines.

The same was true of “Where’er you walk,” from Handel’s Semele, a souvenir of the first of several impressive outings by Hallam at Wolf Trap Opera in the past two summers. A heroic, ringing tone prevailed in the opening parts of the aria, especially the resolute B section. Hallam then sang the da capo repeat in an almost whispered pianissimo, adding nonetheless extravagant ornamentation.

Hallam produced more bel canto fireworks in “Si, ritrovarla io giuro,” from Rossini’s La cenerentola, with several energetic high C’s and delicately placed runs and turns. By the time of his superlative “A te, o cara,” the second half’s selection from I Puritani, Hallam’s upper register felt more effortless in the stratospheric range.

Italian art songs concluded the first half, beginning with the earnest “Non t’amo più” of Paolo Tosti and impassioned “Stornello” of Pietro Cimara, both with some surprising high notes interpolated into the scores. Hallam felt most relaxed in Donizetti’s comical “Me voglio fa’ ‘na casa,” set to an anonymous nonsense text with a sweet patter refrain, and unfurled with a delightful sense of fun by both tenor and pianist.

Hallam opened the second half with remarkably seductive stillness in “Magische töne,” from Karl Goldmark’s grand opera Die Königin von Saba. Rossini’s wordy song “La Danza” provided another contrast, with whirling fingerwork from Terry and a buzzing cloud of text from Hallam.

An extended set of more popular fare concluded the recital. While noteworthy for the range of dynamics and styles it demanded from Hallam the light music overstayed its welcome with too much of the same thing. Sentimental folk song arrangements included Marta Keen’s “Homeward Bound” and Steven Mark Kohl’s “Ten Thousand Miles Away,” as well as a schmaltzy rendition of John Denver’s “Perhaps Love.”

To give his singer a break, Terry offered piano solos in both halves, beginning with a gauzy performance of Chopin’s Berceuse, an apt match for the bel canto extravagances of Bellini and Rossini. For the popular song half, Terry gave a manic rendition of Dizzy Fingers by Zez Confrey, a nod to American jazz.

For the final set Hallam returned to the stage in a colorful robe with beaded headdress to sing songs in Xhosa, one of the principal languages of South Africa. One is unlikely to hear a more authentic rendition of these pieces, due to the language’s complex pronunciation, with three different click sounds in its alphabet. At the same time, the harmonic style of these South African songs remained solidly European, an amalgamation of Gospel music and secular texts.

Two love songs by Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1904-1980), “Della” and “Silvia,” featured romantic melodic writing, along with the more pedestrian “Buya” by living composer Mbeki Mbali (b. 1963). Hallam even took up the djembe, a goblet drum, to accompany himself and Terry in “A Cry, a Smile, and a Dance” by jazz and Afro-pop singer Judith Sephuma. That pre-encore was followed by an encore in the same popular vein, “Bring Him Home” from the musical Les Misérables.

Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey and pianist Myra Huang perform Schumann’s Dichterliebe, plus songs by Poulenc, Schoenberg, Satie, and others 7:30 p.m. January 14. vocalartsdc.org

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