Jordi Savall’s sublime Jerusalem Project has been around since 2008, forming the basis for his best-selling CD/book of the same name, but this is the first time it’s been heard in Australia and it was well worth the wait. An aural extravaganza, incorporating two-dozen musicians from a diverse range of musical backgrounds, it’s a unique showcase and filled the Sydney Opera House with a genuine sense of occasion.

Of course, Savall is not only one of the greatest practitioners and scholars in his field, he’s also a UNESCO Artist for Peace who really cares about getting his message across. That came over loud and clear in a concert that was a moving exploration of this most mystical and controversial of cities, and a musical evocation of what three religions have taken from it and done to it (and, let’s not forget, have done to each other as well).

They began with an extraordinary musical hypothesis – the trumpets of Jericho predicated the sounds that might have destroyed that least fortunate of Middle Eastern cities. Three shofars, a pair of anafirs (slightly more conventional Oriental trumpets) and some hefty drums produced an utterly barbaric, strangely terrifying din that threated to bring the...