Best music in London this Christmas

By Claudia Pritchard on 25/11/2020

Carols, festive songs, orchestral music and choruses, performed to live audiences

Handel's Messiah, Cadogan Hall

Christmas is not complete without the whole story told in dramatic music by London's most prolific 18th-century composer. Nicholas Kraemer conducts early music choir Voces8 and starry soloists – soprano Carolyn Sampson, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies (pictured), tenor Andrew Staples and bass Matthew Brook – in a socially distanced, 80-minute version, with no interval.

WHEN

Sunday 6 December, 3pm and 6pm

WHERE

Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Messiaen's La Nativite du Seigneur, St John's Smith Square

Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur, St John's Smith Square

As a concert venue it's hard to beat elegant and restful St John's Smith Square, the former church which lends itself to contemplative music. Take a break and take heart with astonishingly picturesque and colourful storytelling in organ music by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. His account of the birth of Christ even includes the languid lolloping of the wise men's camels.

WHEN

Monday 14 December, 7:30pm

WHERE

St John's Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1P 3HA

A Choral Christmas, Barbican

Part of the concert venue's Christmas festival of live music to audiences, a cheering programme of seasonal songs and carols from the BBC Singers with composer and conductor Bob Chilcott. The absolutely delightful programme is packed with favourites, some given a modern twist, with the help of singer Katie Melua and saxophonist Jess Gillam (pictured).

WHEN

Tuesday 15 December, 7pm

WHERE

Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

The Sixteen at Christmas, Cadogan Hall

Conductor Harry Christophers and hand-picked choir The Sixteen come to the end of their Choral Odyssey with Simon Russell Beale. Four concerts for a socially distanced audience each pack into one-hour atmospheric musical gems by Byrd, Lassus, Palestrina and Victoria alongside today's leading composers. Expect perfection. Also streamed Tuesday 23 December at 7:30pm: click here to subscribe and view.

WHEN

Tuesday 15 December 5pm & 7:30pm; Wednesday 16 December 5pm & 7:30pm

WHERE

Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

London Choral Sinfonia, St John's Smith Square

A really bubbly concert for Christmas features rousing music from JS Bach's Christmas Oratorio, his joyful Magnificat and, Mozart's ecstatic Exultate Jubilate. Michael Waldron conducts the London Choral Sinfonia, with soprano Mary Bevan (pictured. Photo: Victoria Cadisch).

WHEN

Wednesday 16 December, 7:30pm

WHERE

St John's Smith Square, Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1P 3HA

Christmas Concert, Southwark Cathedral Choir

As well as resuming regular services and adding congregational carol services, Southwark Cathedral Choir uplift and entertain with this 90-minute candle-lit programme of favourite Christmas music, with readings by Timothy West and others. Enjoy the Cathedral's many artworks from socially distanced seating – including Shakespeare's memorial and character-filled stained glass windows.

WHEN

Friday 18 December, 7:30pm

WHERE

Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, London SE1 JDA

Handel's Messiah, Barbican

Richard Egarr conducts the orchestra and choir of the Academy of Ancient Music with soprano Rowan Pierce, counter-tenor Iestyn Davies, tenor Ben Johnson and bass Ashley Riches (pictured), retelling the Christmas story in song. This full-length performance to a socially distanced audience includes a 30-minute interval. Can also be enjoyed online.

WHEN

Saturday 19 December, 7pm to 10pm

WHERE

Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

Piccadilly Sinfonia, St James's, Piccadilly

A generous programme of choral and instrumental music for Christmas in this beautiful church and popular recital venue includes Pachelbel's Canon, a chorus from Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Piano Concerto No 12, and Vivaldi's Winter from the Four Seasons and Concerto for Two Trumpets. Soloists are Warren Mailley-Smith (piano) and soprano Susan Parkes (pictured).

WHEN

Saturday 19 December, 5pm

WHERE

St James's Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL

Carols by Candlelight, Cadogan Hall

In full 18th-century dress and candle-lit, the Mozart Festival Ensemble is joined by the Mozart Festival Chorus for a stirring and atmospheric Christmas Eve concert conducted by the dynamic Steven Devine (pictured). Items include I Saw Three Ships, Handel's glorious Let the Bright Seraphim and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Guest artists are soprano Harriet Eyley and reader Mark Williams. There is one interval.

WHEN

Thursday 24 December, 3pm

WHERE

Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall

Christmas music aplenty is on the cards at the Royal Albert Hall, however the venue is updating its programme in line with government restrictions on audience size. But keep a space in your diary for one afternoon or evening in Kensington: top artists and ensembles are doing the same, and given the green light, the festival of concerts will have something for everyone.

WHEN

Friday 18 December to Tuesday 23 December, 1:30pm and 7:30pm, TBC

WHERE

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP