The Durham Singers’ performance of Mozart’s great unfinished Requiem at Durham Cathedral was nothing short of a complete success.

With an audience packed into the nave for the much-antipicated concert, the singers and the Durham Singers Ensemble set the tone with a series of more intimate works by Mozart, opening with an affectionate rendition of the motet Ave Verum.

The period instrument ensemble, led by Duncan Druce, evoked the soundworld Mozart would have known, with a warm account of his Divertimento for Strings, written when the composer was only 15 years old.

Alys Roberts, the soprano soloist for the concert, made an immediate impression with her dazzling voice in two short arias.

The choir, led by its musical director Dr Julian Wright, chose the Requiem version completed by Mozart’s pupil Franz Sussmayer. The ominous opening bars heralded the start of a journey of mystery and drama, with earthy basses overlaid by soaring sopranos in the Introitus.

The stunning double fugue of the Kyrie was sung magnificently, before the choir plunged headlong into the fire and brimstone of the Dies irae. The Lacrimosa was sublime.

A highlight of the performance was the Tuba mirum, which placed the spotlight on the formidable talents of a quartet of young soloists.

The portentous tones of the trombone were joined seamlessly by the authorative bass of Nicholas Morton, while Hugo Hymas’s rich silky tenor voice was were a pleasure to hear. Charlotte Heslop’s extraordinary mezzo-soprano voice radiated power, depth and feeling, while Roberts rose to the occasion.

Dr Wright maintained a keen sense of momentum throughout, with the choral and orchestral forces well balanced. The Lux aeterna was driving to a resounding climax - to be greeted by thunderous applause. It was a memorable occasion.