Is The Creation really Haydn's masterpiece? String quartet lovers might disagree; so might anyone who has heard a mediocre performance. However, Paul McCreesh's performance with his Gabrieli Consort and Players was extraordinary. For a start, there was the sheer size of it. The the forces McCreesh had assembled - six of each woodwind instrument, a sea of violins, a professional chorus and the chamber choir from Chetham's Music School - meant the stage was set as if for a Mahler symphony.

Overlooking one or two moments of ragged string ensemble, bigger was most certainly better. The chaos of the empty universe at the start flourished in the contrast between the soft buzz of massed strings and outbursts of stereo timpani. The pairs of trumpets on either side of the platform made for a radiant response to the choir's "Let there be light", with Mark Padmore's clarion tenor ringing out in approval.

The menagerie grew steadily in Neal Davies's eloquent baritone narration; he and McCreesh had tweaked the clunkier parts of the text slightly, just as Haydn probably would have, had he had better English. The doves, described in Sandrine Piau's poised soprano aria, lost some of their elegance but none of their appeal when their cooing was depicted by rasping baroque bassoon instead of its more emollient modern equivalent.

Performing the work without an interval made for a long haul, and by the time we got to the Garden of Eden, the fortepiano tuning was flagging - as did McCreesh's tempo for Adam and Eve's duet. But Miah Persson's piquant singing as Eve helped hold the interest. McCreesh's upcoming studio recording is something anyone who has ever doubted this piece should listen out for.