The East Oxford Community Choir embarked on a two-year journey last year, tackling one of their most demanding pieces to date with the first part of Mendelssohn’s St Paul. On Friday, they joined forces with their ‘twin’ choir from Grenoble, Ensemble Vocal Interlude, to sing their way through the complete work.

And what a triumphant journey it’s turned out to be; this was an intense and passionate performance that really grabbed the attention.

You could almost feel the choir’s concentration, whether singing one of the dreamy chorales or angrily denouncing St Paul as a blasphemer, and they captured those different moods very convincingly.

The orchestra — also composed of players from Oxford and Grenoble — impressed too, with some confident and meticulous accompaniment.

Conductor Mel Houldershaw gave strong and expressive guidance, leaving nobody in any doubt as to exactly what she wanted, and she had an energy that seemed to inspire the singers and instrumentalists to greater heights. Entries were crisp and decisive, the phrasing smooth and expansive, and intonation spot on.

The soloists, too, did sterling work. Soprano Baptistine Mortier — who replaced an indisposed Esther Manieri at short notice — had a beautiful, clear and silvery voice, although there were a few wobbly notes near the beginning. Tenor Robin Whitehouse revealed a lovely fluid voice, but needed greater strength for a work like this; at times he was overpowered by the orchestra. Chris Emlyn-Jones, in the mammoth role of St Paul, occasionally sounded as though he was beginning to tire, particularly in the second half, but nevertheless gave an impassioned and solid performance. The outstanding individual performance of the evening came from alto Katherine Cooper, who ironically had the least to do, but in her one solo spot was thoroughly captivating, both vocally and dramatically.

Overall, an impressive and compelling performance, which earned the performers an enthusiastic ovation at the end.