BACH’S Mass in B Minor, one of the greatest works in the Western canon, was conveyed with a sense of enjoyment by the Durham Singers and their orchestral ensemble performing to a packed audience in Durham Cathedral.

Musical director Dr Julian Wright set the scene for the musical drama with a spacious account of the Kyrie Eleison.

Beautifully shaped, its steady pulse was underscored by sensitive playing by the orchestra.

The young soprano guest soloist, Rowan Pierce, who is a rising star in her own right, affirmed her place in the musical firmament with a glorious account of Christe Eleison (sung with Clare Wills) and Laudemus Te. Her agile voice was projected with a ringing clarity and was beautifully matched with tenor Scott Richardson’s rich tones in an operatic Dominus Dei.

Guest bass Nicholas Morton gave a mellifluous recital of the Quoniam, accompanied by burnished playing from Rebecca Goldberg on her valveless horn.

Other soloists who stepped from the ranks, attesting to the individual talents of the singers, included tenor David Harris and altos Morven Adey, Clare Wright and Kathy Price, whose rendition of the penultimate Agnus Dei was ravishing.

The Durham Singers Ensemble played their period instruments with impeccable style and buoyancy which was perfectly balanced with the choral forces.

Dr Wright had a firm hand on the dynamics of the work, carefully fashioning the contrasts between the slower passages of focused intensity and electrifying faster movements. The Cum Sancto Spiritu was thrillingly paced and the Crucifixus was beautifully drawn out, before an energetic Et Resurrexit. The whole was drawn to a sublime climax with a stirring Dona Nobis Pacem.

An uplifting evening that lived up to every expectation.