Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Elin Manahan Thomas

This celebration of Tavener's music showed the extraordinary depth and breadth of his compositions. 

Polyphony live up to their reputation, performing Bach's St John Passion with intensity and dynamism, in a performance only marred by some routine orchestral playing. 

It has been a few years since the Academy of Ancient Music pioneered the programme The Four Seasons: Nature’s Voice and Verse. Its debut at Hong Kong City Hall on Sunday was the start of a China tour covering Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin.

Seasonal concert programmes come in all shapes and sizes. Reflecting the many sides of Christmas, they range from the commercial to the spiritual, from bombastic celebrity endorsement to the simplicity of choristers by candlelight.