Performer: Spiritato

A skilfully programmed evening of Italian Baroque music gave us a Christmas concert with a difference – and, thanks to superb playing from Spiritato!, an immensely enjoyable one. 

Unlike his better-known contemporaries, Czech composer Zelenka has faded into obscurity, Spirato! and Barts Chamber Choir made an extremely persuasive case for this highly original music. 

For sheer dramatic potential, let alone the beauty of its music, Daniel Purcell’s The Judgement of Paris is a rare find. In this celebratory performance at St John’s Smith Square, this long-lost opera sparkles at us across the silent centuries.