The tills were ringing at the first performance of Athalia in 1733. Never mind the religious or artistic convictions that might have spurred Handel into writing oratorios. It was their financial success that he really enjoyed, and a contemporary report declared of Athalia’s premiere that “the famous Mr Handell cleared by his Musick upwards of £2,000”.

That must have been a huge sum. Although Baroque music has gained a loyal following over the past two or three decades, it is not profit on an 18th-century scale but the certainty of sponsorship that has kept the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music going to its 25th anniversary.

A good crowd turned out for the opening performance of Athalia on Thursday – if not 3,700, as claimed for the work’s premiere. One outcome of the increasing popularity of Handel’s music is that there are few rarities left among his huge output, but this early oratorio is one of them and it made a suitably adventurous start to the festival in Handel’s own 250th anniversary year.

The music is highly skilled, but not nearly as vividly dramatic as the later oratorios. The opening chorus “Blooming virgins, spotless train” sets the tone, as the story spends a lot of time among the genteel and pious. It might all have sounded innocuous, if the conductor, Ivor Bolton, had not dug so energetically beneath the surface. There was no period-style pecking at the music. Rhythms were bracing, legato lines given full weight, and the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and Concerto Köln gave him wholehearted support.

The soloists were an average bunch. Sarah Fox vocalised sweetly as virtuous Josabeth, with countertenor Iestyn Davies pure-toned as Joad, tenor James Gilchrist rousing some dramatic interest as Mathan, and bass Neal Davies roaring away through Abner’s arias of vengeance. Handel does not give wicked queen Athalia much time to impose her presence, but that did not stop soprano Simone Kermes from hamming it up as if she was auditioning to play Cruella de Vil. The result was high camp, but Kermes gave it her all, and it was her obvious enjoyment of the role, along with Bolton’s open-heartedness, that lifted the performance out of the ordinary. ★★★★☆