"Our life", sings Judas in Elgar's grand oratorio The Apostles, "is short and tedious". The same cannot be said of the work itself. At two hours long, and with decidedly mixed levels of artistic interest bound together with a bewildering compilation of increasingly gnomic biblical nuggets, it is not short.

Still, there should be a place at the Proms for second-rate choral extravaganzas, particularly if they're by Elgar. There are few forces better guaranteed to make the best of it than those assembled here. Mark Elder, always a generous and insightful Elgarian, led the Hallé on superlative form, backed by massed ranks from the Hallé Choir and Youth Choir together with the London Philharmonic Choir. The soloists were excellent, too, and confidently abreast of their parts; most of them, with the exception of Clive Bayley, participated in the Hallé and Elder's recent recording (due out in September).

Jacques Imbrailo's Jesus was as subtly textured as one would expect, with good vocal chemistry between him and Alice Coote, who managed to etch the fire and sadness of Mary Magdalene into her voice so well that the part's shortcomings were rather ruthlessly exposed. The resplendent, no-nonsense soprano of Rebecca Evans – on superb form, as is she so often – perhaps had the best of Elgar's inspiration as the Angel Gabriel, her early address beautifully woven around the string textures so that her higher notes floated above it like a gentle epiphany. As Judas, Bayley also succeeded in communicating the role's power and self-disgust. If only Elgar's promising fascination with one of the New Testament's most intriguing characters had led to something a little more coherent.

• Available on iPlayer until 17 August.

• If you're at any Prom this summer, tweet your thoughts about it to @guardianmusic using the hashtag #proms and we'll pull what you've got to say into one of our weekly roundups – or leave your comments below.