Star rating: *** EDINBURGH Royal Choral Union first sang Haydn's Creation in 1861, with Jenny Lind, the Swedish nightingale, as soprano soloist, and her husband Otto Goldschmidt as conductor. Her secret affair with Mendelssohn, if (as is now thought likely) it really existed, had ended with his sudden death in 1847. Her voice, declared Chopin in 1848, remained "as smooth and even as a thread of hair." In Edinburgh, at the age of 41, she was still in her prime and when she sang On Mighty Pens, Haydn's tribute to "the nightingale's delightful notes", must have captivated the audience.

Star rating: ***

EDINBURGH Royal Choral Union first sang Haydn's Creation in 1861, with Jenny Lind, the Swedish nightingale, as soprano soloist, and her husband Otto Goldschmidt as conductor. Her secret affair with Mendelssohn, if (as is now thought likely) it really existed, had ended with his sudden death in 1847. Her voice, declared Chopin in 1848, remained "as smooth and even as a thread of hair." In Edinburgh, at the age of 41, she was still in her prime and when she sang On Mighty Pens, Haydn's tribute to "the nightingale's delightful notes", must have captivated the audience.

Behind Saturday's performance at St Cuthbert's - the earlier one had been in the Music Hall, George Street - there was thus a sense of history. The deft young Michael Bawtree, ERCU's present chorus director, conducted.

Kirstin Sharpin, a promising New Zealander from the RSAMD, sang On Mighty Pens with pace and brightness. Edinburgh's Pro Musica Orchestra, with bold horns and finesse in other departments, savoured Haydn's instrumental timbres. And, though platform space looked cramped, the current choristers rose to the occasion.

Simon Wall and Julian Tovey were the other soloists. Words (in English) were clear. Humour and splendour were held in balance. Haydn's memories of The Magic Flute, with which the score is entrancingly sprinkled, were always audible. The church acoustics, it's true, failed to glorify the great C major blaze of light that sets the music on its way, but the performance, marking the bicentenary of the composer's death. went with momentum.