Few moments are as powerful as the delayed choral explosion in Handel’s Zadok the Priest – the most famous of the four coronation anthems the composer wrote for George II and Queen Caroline in 1727 – and the Brandenburg Choir certainly hit its mark, the singers bursting with energy in the opening of this concert which placed the anthems alongside Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.

Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Brandenburg Choir. Photo © Keith Saunders

A slightly unsettled start and some mild intonation problems meant that the repetitious figures that light the music’s fuse didn’t quite generate the taut sense of expectation they should, but with the chorus delivering crisp entries in “And all the people rejoiced” and “God save the King!”, in a lively reading conducted by the Brandenburg’s Artistic Director Paul Dyer, the musicians nonetheless captured the excitement of this music, which has been a staple of every British coronation since it was written. There were moments in the following anthems when the large orchestral forces infringed on the singers’ clarity – these were smaller forces than the 47-strong Chapel Royal Choir used in Westminster...