Outside, Circular Quay was bustling with party-goers dressed as ghouls, angels and walking pumpkins on their way to an All Hallows’ Eve extravaganza in the nearby Rocks.

Inside, the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall was filling up for a quasi-religious ritual of a different kind – the first of two performances of Felix Mendelssohn’s swansong masterpiece Elijah.

You could tell within the opening moments, when Elijah summons a drought to curse his faithless people, that this was going to be an exceptional and powerful experience.

Elijah: Sir Bryn Terfel, conductor Simone Young and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photot © Jay Patel

First, the funereal chords, then Bryn Terfel’s forbidding and formidable bass-baritone declaring, “There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”, followed by the Bach-like unfolding of the orchestra and the thunderous entry of the 400 voices of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: “Help, Lord! Wilt thou quite destroy us?”

Next, the beautifully blended duet from Australian-British soprano Samantha Clarke and Israeli contralto Noa Beinart, leading into Obadiah’s first aria and the sweet and sure lyricism of Indian-Australian tenor and former heavy metal frontman Shanul Sharma.

Elijah: Andrew O’Connor, Shanul Sharma and Sir Bryn Terfel. Photo © Jay Patel

And all of this in less than 10 minutes, tightly directed by Young. And we hadn’t yet heard the eight voices of the Angels, sung by a pick of Pinchgut and Song Company regulars, or Sydney soprano Eleanor Lyons’s superb handling of the heart-rending scene as the widow whose dead son Elijah brings back to life.

Terfel showed his full operatic and dramatic flair not only in the showcase arias “Is not His word like a fire” and “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel”, but also in his generous acknowledgment of his colleagues, listening intently as if deep in thought, raising or lowering an eyebrow, and smiling warmly and nodding after Sharma’s key aria, “Then shall the righteous shine forth”.

Beinart showed why Young chose her as Erda for the SSO’s concert Ring cycle, bringing Wagnerian heft to the role of Jezebel and confirming her place as one of the most expressive altos on the circuit today.

The orchestra was also in top-notch form, with guest Principal Cello Jesper Svedberg’s warm tone complementing Terfel’s deeply affecting sotto voce “It is enough; O Lord, now take away my life”.

Elijah: Emma Sholl (centre, flute) and musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Jay Patel

Emma Sholl’s flute soared above Beinart in angel guise, while the brass section – five horns, two trumpets and three trombones, including Nick Byrne wielding an ophicleide, a keyed bass instrument resembling the old serpent – underlined the dramatic episodes with aplomb.

Performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, considered by many his greatest work, don’t come around too often, but the SPC staged it two years ago, conducted by Artistic Director Brett Weymark and featuring Teddy Tahu Rhodes in the title role. That performance was memorable indeed, and I awarded it five stars in my review.

Young and her colleagues managed to bring an extra-special dimension to this performance, not least by having the incomparable Terfel in a part that he has made his own over the decades.

Whereas Weymark went for the supercharged sound of chorus backed by the Concert Hall pipe organ, Young opted for a more subtle approach, with Nathan Cox on a chamber organ.

And instead of a boy chorister as the Youth, who is sent to look out for signs of rain to break the drought, Clarke was given the role. This added to her radiant reading of the aria “Hear ye, Israel”, which Mendelssohn wrote for the “Swedish nightingale” Jenny Lind and which opens the second half of the oratorio.

But the loudest cheer of the evening went to the choir when Young gave them her personal ovation.

Sir Bryn Terfel sings with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra  11 and 13 November and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (19 – 21 November) in its Spring Gala: Brahms German Requiem.