The new government may still be occupying space in the national dailies, but last weekend some of us were enjoying a coalition of a different kind – the altogether easier alliance between the East Oxford Community Choir and their Grenoble counterpart, Interlude, in a thrilling performance of Mendelssohn’s St Paul.

Unfortunately, the church’s acoustics did the singers few favours, and from my front-seat position the sound often seemed muffled, with the singers struggling to project across the orchestra. When the sound did come through it was worth hearing, with some lovely, soaring notes from the sopranos and solid underpinning from the other voices, while conductor Mel Houldershaw’s clear, decisive conducting ensured a well-disciplined and polished performance.

Apart from one or two suspect notes from the wind section at the beginning of the overture, the orchestra was consistently impressive. There was a particularly solid contribution from the strings, who produced some gorgeously fluid phrasing, while the brass section seized eagerly on their moments of glory.

Soprano soloist Helen Massey — who also sang Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate as an opener — has a sweet, clear voice, and she sings with great sensitivity, but I felt her voice lacked power, and she needed greater resonance on the upper notes. Alto Katherine Cooper — a singer I always enjoy hearing — sounded a little nervous in her only solo, but still produced a lovely rich sound, while tenor Robin Whitehouse and bass Chris Emlyn-Jones both sang strongly and imbued their parts with purpose and dramatic intensity.

I’m sure I can’t have been the only member of the audience who left wondering why this glorious work is so often overlooked in favour of Mendelssohn’s better-known Elijah; with its rousing choruses, dramatic solos and vibrant brass sections it deserves equal status, and the EOCC should be congratulated on giving the piece a long-overdue airing.

This was only the first part of St Paul; the choir returns next year with Part 2.