A well-timed lightning storm accompanied Giovanni Gabrieli’s chorus Hodie complete sunt when Sydney Philharmonia Choirs opened their concert celebrating the Italian Baroque in Sydney’s oldest surviving church, St James’.

The short setting celebrates the fiery appearance of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, and right on queue the heavens opened and thunder claps rumbled through the walls of the 200-year-old building, earning an ovation from Artistic Director Brett Weymark at the end of the piece.

The Chamber Choir were in fine form for the evening’s program, accompanied by a small band of instrumentalists on lute, violon, viola da gamba, chamber organ and harpsichord.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Voices of the Italian Baroque, St James’ Church, Sydney. Photo © Simon Crossley-Meates

Gabrieli made the most of the massive spaces of St Mark’s Venice for his works, often using multiple choirs and instrumentalists placed on opposite sides of the basilica or perched up high. For this performance, however, the 40 or so singers faced each other across the chancel, the fanfare-like cascading rhythms being thrown from side to side.

The main work of the first half was Claudio Monteverdi’s celebrated Messa a 4 voci, SV 190,...