There might be as many ways to perform Handel’s oratorio Messiah as there are to cook a holiday turkey — how many “sides” and “dressings” there are to the performance is at the discretion of the conductor from a myriad of choices in historical versions, soloists, phrasing, tempi, and ornamentation. December Messiah performances in Princeton are usually the domain of local choruses, but last weekend conductor Jacques Lacombe brought the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra NJSO) to Richardson Auditorium for a presentation of Handel’s immortal choral/orchestral work.

It was clear from the outset of the performance that Mr. Lacombe was very familiar with the work, exploring unique ideas in instrumentation and selection of arias. For Friday night’s concert, Mr. Lacombe looked back to the 1743 London performances of the piece, with an orchestra resembling Handel’s original ensemble. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra onstage included chamber-sized contingents of strings, as well as a pair of trumpets and oboes, a single bassoon, timpani, and both harpsichord and portative organ. Conducting without a baton, Mr. Lacombe began the opening “Overture” with decisive double-dotted rhythms, yet found grace and elegance with small sweeps in the lean string playing.

Choice of vocal soloists makes a huge difference in Messiah performances — the numerous arias and recitatives in the different versions of the work call for a wide range of styles and performance effects. The NJSO was joined on Friday night by four vocal soloists who clearly took operatic approaches to the 18th-century music. Tenor William Burden had the first task of setting the stage to “prepare ye the way of the Lord,” which he sang with comforting vocal color. Mr. Burden showed no trouble with the vocal runs which are characteristic of this music and easily changed to a more plaintive musical style in the key arias leading up to the oratorio’s climactic moments.

One of the key decisions to be made in presenting this work is which arias to program from among the different versions performed during Handel’s lifetime. Handel originally composed arias for mezzo-soprano or bass, and later rescored them for castrato Gaetano Guadagni on his arrival in London in the late 1740s. For Friday night’s performance, Mr. Lacombe reverted to the original bass soloist scoring for the well-known “Refiner’s Fire” aria, presenting a rarely-heard version commandingly sung by Dashon Burton. In this and other arias throughout the work, Mr. Burton was full of dramatic character, almost telling the audience a secret in “Darkness shall cover the earth” and well handling the coloratura runs when appropriate. Mr. Burton easily convinced the audience that “the trumpet shall sound” in the signature bass aria from the third part, perfectly matching the double-dotted rhythms in the smooth trumpet playing of Garth Greenup.

Mr. Burden and Mr. Burton were joined in this performance by mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala and soprano Celena Shafer. Ms. Zabala sang with a very comforting tone, with a rich cover to her voice. She also articulated runs well, providing unusual ornaments and singing long lines with ease. Soprano Ms. Shafer took the most operatic approach of all to the music, specifically singing to the audience throughout all her solos and declaiming the text well. Ms. Shafer clearly loves to act (at times almost too much), and easily handled the runs of the soprano signature aria, “Rejoice.”

Messiah is very much about the chorus, and Heather J. Buchanan had prepared a solid ensemble in the Montclair State University Singers. Multiple times, the sopranos were in perfect time with the accompanying oboes and the bass section was equally as clean. Mr. Lacombe wisely kept the orchestra down in volume while the chorus was singing, allowing the choral sound to float over the instrumentalists.

The conductor’s approach to this massive work is equally as important as the music itself. Mr. Lacombe tightened this performance of Messiah by omitting certain numbers and shortening others. He continually looked for inner phrasing in the music, and the players easily responded to his gestures, creating lilt and precision which fit the music perfectly. Providing very steady continuo accompaniment was Robert Wolinsky, smoothly switching from harpsichord to organ throughout the concert. As a result, the nearly full house at Richardson had no trouble relaxing and enjoying a musical holiday tradition in this performance.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s next Princeton performance will be on Friday, January 29, 2016 at 8 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium. Jacques Lacombe will lead the orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” joined by the Women of the Montclair State University Prima Voce and members of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. For information call (800)-ALLEGRO or visit www.njsymphony.org.