Colin Graham was given exactly the kind of sendoff he wanted Tuesday night: good music, people who loved him, and real food to follow.

Graham, the longtime artistic director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, died on April 6 - Good Friday - of heart disease. He’d had time to think about what he wanted in a memorial, and the details of the concert were his plan.

The short speeches that came between musical numbers were humorous and laced with impersonations of Graham himself; general director Charles MacKay’s was probably the most spot-on. But Graham’s personality - demanding but generous, exacting but kind, fueled by a love of theater and music, and a love of the people who create it - came through clearly.

There was some splendid music-making, too, most notably the quintet from Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger,”   with soprano Kelly Kaduce, mezzo-soprano Dorothy Byrne, tenors Paul Appleby and Brandon Jovanovich, and baritone Robert Gierlach, with Stephen Lord conducting; the gorgeous duet from “The Ghosts of Versailles,” “Come now, my darling,” beautifully sung by soprano Ailyn Perez and mezzo-soprano Mary Ann McCormick, led by George Manahan; and, especially, Christine Brewer’s stunning “Liebestod,” again with Lord. (Lord didn’t speak; he didn’t have to. It all came through in the music.)

Afterward, most of the crowd - a Who’s Who of the St. Louis arts community - mingled over champagne up at the big tent, laughed and talked, and lingered late. It was a wonderful night, in every sense of the word, and a fine celebration of a life well lived. Colin, you are loved.