“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas!” Paul Dyer told the audience at Sydney’s City Recital Hall. Indeed, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s Noël! Noël! concert is as sure a sign of the festive season’s arrival as any Messiah. This year’s Noël! Noël! – subtitled “Follow Your Star” – was in many ways a more traditional offering from Dyer, a stripped back orchestra and the Brandenburg Choir, but it still sparkled with typical Noël! Noël! festivity.

Bonnie de la Hunty, Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Choir. Photo © Steven Godbee

The program opened with Hildegard von Bingen’s O eucharis in laeta via, rendered in lush ‘Christmas adventure film’ colours by Alex Palmer’s arrangement, decked with the tinsel of chimes and cymbal rolls. Though more ‘St Eucharius’s magical journey to the North Pole’ than ecstatic meeting with the Son of God, the chant was a joyous way to kick off the celebrations – and to introduce rising star soprano Bonnie de la Hunty, the Hague-trained musician making her debut with the Brandenburgs.

De la Hunty brought a shimmering, light-toned soprano to the Christmas table, and if it was a touch delicate for some...