There’s always a sense of freshness, as well as grandeur, when Sydney Philharmonia Choirs performs Christmas favourite Handel’s Messiah.

Perhaps it’s because Artistic Director Brett Weymark rests it for two years by alternating with a fun Carols at the House night in which he can indulge his passion for show songs alongside firm old favourites, including some enthusiastic audience participation in O Come, All Ye Faithful.

Handel’s Messiah, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, 2022. Photo © Simon Crossley-Meates

But after the disruptions of the past three years, he wasn’t going to pass up on the chance to show off the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall’s new acoustics with 650 voices, drawing on the Sydney Philharmonia’s core choirs, as well as an unauditioned Christmas Choir and singers from Parramatta and Wollongong, alongside his elite, 60-strong Philharmonia Orchestra led by the redoubtable Fiona Ziegler.

Add in four top-notch soloists in soprano Lorina Gore, mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms, tenor Nicholas Jones and baritone Morgan Pearse and it wasn’t just the Hallelujah Chorus that was going to bring the audience to its feet.

Handel started composing oratorios to recoup some of the money he lost when his opera...