Queensland is seven times the size of Great Britain, five times the size of Japan and more than twice the size of Texas. Like its land mass, it dreams large. The recently baptised Glasshouse Theatre is a 1,500-seat architectural wonder with a rippled glass façade. QPAC is now said to be Australia’s largest performing arts centre.

Previous productions at QPAC have demonstrated colossal ambition. In 2012, John Curro conducted an orchestra of 200 players, as well as 300 choral singers, in a monumental delivery of Havergal Brian’s The Gothic Symphony.

Yet Messa da Requiem has an even bolder reach, involving Queensland Ballet, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Chorale and the Canticum Chamber Choir. Besides the huge cast, the show is a collaboration between the exacting disciplines of classical music and ballet – a taxing undertaking, notoriously difficult to bring off, because one discipline can dominate while the other assumes a supportive function.

Queensland Ballet’s Messa da Requiem (Libby-Rose Niederer, foreground, right). Photo © David Kelly

Evidently, much thought and effort has gone into creating a strong pairing, with the dancers,...