Performer: Andreas Scholl

Whether one considers Messiah to be really appropriate for Christmas, it always a welcome gift for the Handel aficionado, and this performance from Rotterdam, while suffering some unfortunate cuts, is an otherwise solid musical offering.

A glorious performance of Handel's Biblical oratorio is marred by poor staging.

Joined by the exquisitely subtle Accademia Bizantina led by Alessandro Tampieri, Scholl brought little-known but no less great devotions to the Virgin Mary to life with impetus and intimacy.