Zoe Brookshaw was a rather poised Esther, no shrinking violet but concentrated and contained, her opening aria stylish yet her final one denying Haman mercy was vivid with a nice firmness to her line. In her duet with Xavier Hetherington’s Ahasuerus, Brookshaw gave a sense of Esther’s purity…

In the title role, Zoë Brookshaw was possessed of a sweet soprano that possessed many nuances, and her upper register was particularly persuasive.

Zoë Brookshaw’s Esther commanded the stage, pleading with her husband in a glowing soprano, while spitting and shrieking with rage in “Flatter’ring tongue no more I hear thee!”

Soprano Zoë Bradshaw and bass Alex Ashworth stood out for their vibrant strength of tone.

…the beautiful rendition of Bid the Virtues, in which [oboist Katharina Spreckelsen] and soprano soloist Zoë Brookshaw demonstrated their remarkable breath control as they interwove in an extended duet of ecstatic clarity.

Every time I hear Brookshaw I marvel at the sweet freshness of her voice. There’s an innocent quality to her soprano that is most beguiling, but only possible because she possesses such fine technique and control. As Aci, she had two of the most notable numbers in the piece. In the first, “Qui l’augel da pianta in pianta” she duetted ravishingly with fine solo oboe and violin birdsong, and then broke our hearts in the dying lament “Verso gia l’alma col sangue”…

There is a lovely purity to Brookshaw’s voice, something we heard to perfection in her recitative ‘Purché l’amato bene’ (‘Provided that my beloved would not yield’), and the succeeding aria ‘Qui l’augel’…

Zoe Brookshaw’s voice, though, with its powerful sweetness, was able to cut through the string texture to deliver a radiant ‘Gottes Engel weichen nie’.

Zoe Brookshaw’s pealing soprano spread delight dancing with two pastoral flutes.

The singing was outstanding throughout from the pool of nine singers, with particularly notable contributions from Miriam Allen, Zoe Brookshaw, Helen Charlston, Nicholas Mulroy and David Shipley.