Messiah. It's that time of year again when this perennially popular work is heard in venues across the land and so it was in St. Margaret's Church, Ilkley last Saturday, a little snow falling, to add to the atmosphere as we made our way up the hill.

The first appearance of the young Yonni Levi conducting this performance by Ilkley & Otley Choral Societies proved that they have their man! Indeed, he would have given former, much-loved conductor Charles Bainbridge ("the North's Sir Malcolm Seargent" quipped Alan Titchmarsh) a run for his money as "the fastest Messiah in the North", with choruses bouncing along at fast tempi. The first chorus, strongly opened by the altos, set the pace, with further examples of excellent vocal coloratura in "For Unto Us" & "His Yolk is Easy", ending the first half with flying runs in "All we like Sheep", before a supremely solemn "iniquity of us all".

The Yorkshire Chamber Orchestra, led by Nick Meredith, was on equally fine form, jubilant from the start, with playing of fine quality. Due to the indisposition of organist Robert Sudall, the society's former conductor Alan Horsey doubled up with his role on the harpsichord, where his excellent and decisive accompaniment was amply demonstrated.

So, to the soloists, all graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music, with voices that proved why they were there. But the style of this performance demanded a similar response from them, that was lacking. Hardly a sign of baroque ornaments, where so many opportunities allow, and all four had some intonation problems at times. Tenor Matthew Palfreyman's crystal clear words were matched by lovely tone in his opening arias, but his performance was particularly suited to "Thou Shalt break them", comfortable in those top notes.

Bass Daniel Hayes struggled with breath control from the outset, spoiling the line in "Thus saith the Lord", but he "furiously raged" later on, keeping up with Levi's brisk tempo, and in "The Trumpet shall Sound" he found a fine partner in the un-named, sensitively phrasing trumpeter.

Mezzo Isabella Cheevers also took more breaths than ideal and had to recover from some mistakes in "O thou that tellest", but the quality of the voice shone through.

With soprano Juliet Montgomery, we were treated to a more operatic realisation of Handel's arias. The runs in "Rejoice greatly" were no problem for her, even with the fast tempo, and showed good breath control, but the following aria for soprano & mezzo was little more than a sing-through, mezzo forte throughout.

I would have liked more word colouring and dynamics from all four soloists. There was a dearth of pianissimo singing and scant attention to one of the wonders of baroque style - ornamentation. There was little on show this evening.

The chorus and orchestra raised the roof in the "Hallelujah" chorus, with a notably effective timpanist [again, un-named], and the final two choruses ended a most enjoyable presentation of this iconic work. Each of us will have our own special moments in this wondrous piece, so what was special this evening? Clearly the start of a promising relationship between a very young, new conductor and a choir that has sung this piece many, many times before. Old Chestnut it may be, but Messiah is as loved and firm a feature of the Christmas season as log fires, robins and - well - chestnuts, and this performance warmed our hearts! Well done indeed.

Catherine Scott