What a pairing. It’s epic. It’s almost too much. Arguably the greatest works for soloists, choir and orchestra from Mozart and Haydn on the same bill, with WASO and the St George’s Cathedral Consort under the baton of that master of sustained intensity, Joseph Nolan.

Mozart’s C minor mass and Haydn’s Nelson mass, although “classical” are temperamentally worlds apart, the former ready to grip the Commendatore’s hand, the latter sublunary in its dramatic logic.

But, thanks to Nolan’s unifying vision, it worked for this sell-out Wednesday night concert at the Perth Concert Hall.

West Australian Symphony Orchestra perform Mozart’s Great Mass. Photo © Daniel James Grant.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, there are two movements still ringing in my ears from the Mozart. The extraordinary Qui tollis peccata mundi, with Nolan shaping the relentless double-dotted figures and the sudden changes from forte to piano and back with a granular attention to detail that never distracted from the powerful overall effect.

And the sublime Et incarnatus est, in this instance a truly scintillating showcase for solo soprano, flute (Andrew Nicholson), oboe (Liz Chee) and bassoon (Jane Kirchner-Lindner) as they wove magical skeins amid recessed orchestral backdrops.

Right here in...