Newcastle’s St Nicholas Cathedral was festooned with a blaze of colour for a music-themed flower festival – embellished aurally with a Baroque Concert by The Durham Singers and Ensemble.

Performing their debut concert at the venue, under the direction of Dr Julian Wright, they presented four Coronation Anthems by Handel interspersed with Bach orchestral works.

And what better way to start than with Zadoc the Priest. The period ensemble built up a wonderful air of expectation before an explosive entry by the chorus.

Their energetic and joyous singing was bolstered by ravishing fanfares from valveless trumpets played by Darrren Moore, Chris Parsons and Peter Mankarious.

The semi-quaver runs of the Amen were crisply articulated while concluding cadences of the Hallelujah swept all before it.

Bach’s Orchestral Suite no 1 in C major was delivered with an agile buoyancy by the strings, underlaid by warm cellos and the rich autumnal tones of Inga Klaucke’s bassoon. Her wind solo with oboist Mark Baigent and Cait Walker was one of the highlights of the performance.

A rousing rendition of Let thy Hand be Strengthened was followed by an uplifting account of My Heart is Indicting, with immaculate exchanges between the male and female voices. The singers relished every syllable of the King Shall Have Pleasures.

Violinist Caroline Balding gave a charming performance of Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major, with each note invested with feeling. The slow movement was simply sublime.

The exuberant double fugue of Handel's The King Shall Rejoice rounded off an exhilarating evening.

Handel's Coronation anthems will feature alongside those of Blow and Purcell at The Durham Singers’ Theatre of Royalty at Durham Cathedral at 7.30pm on Saturday, November 15.

The will be are intermixed with excerpts of royal scenes from opera and oratorios by Handel and Purcell. For more information visit www.durham-singers.org.

Gavin Engelbrecht