The build-up to the opening salvo of this seasonal festival may have been low-key, but the event itself was anything but.

‘Never knowingly understated’ – in the nicest possible way – is Adrian Chandler’s approach to Vivaldi, whose music is the raison d’ȇtre of his chamber orchestra La Serenissima (nickname for the composer’s native Venice).

Friday evening showcased the remarkable talents of soprano Mhairi Lawson, who featured in solo motets either side of the break. These are, unashamedly, display pieces, hard to imagine in liturgical use. Both here had a strongly nautical theme, contrasting life’s stormy seas with the saviour’s haven of happiness: nobody does weather like Vivaldi.

Both also finished with sensational Alleluias, which took Lawson to the extremes of her range at ferocious speeds. Apparently nerveless, she tossed out her roulades with an infectious smile. It was breath-taking – though she seemed to need few. She had already graced the repeats in her da capo arias with tender decoration.

Elsewhere, two of four concertos cast Chandler’s violin as soloist; he slipped on a cloak of panache with artless abandon, especially in the lovely Il Riposo (Rest), RV270, written for Christmas Day.

There are few more exciting sights than a group of strings in concentrated exertion. Chandler and his baker’s dozen accomplices, spiced by theorbo and chamber organ, laid into Vivaldi’s challenges with relish. One rather sedate fugue apart, runs and rhythms flew off the strings with uninhibited zest.