Venue: St George's, Hanover Square, London

The London Handel Festival offers a chance to hear rarely performed music for Passiontide, with Harry Bicket conducting the English Concert. 

A glorious Esther from Laurence Cummings and the London Handel Singers and Orchestra, with a classy line-up of soloists led by Nardus Williams and Tim Mead.

There was a celebratory atmosphere to launch the 2022 festival, including royal fireworks and coronation anthems, but it was Ukrainian mezzo Anna Starushkevych who provided the evening's most moving moment. 

Handel’s Messiah is not too re-imagined, thankfully, with an almost Crystal Palace sized choir although not all singing at once!

A pasticcio not seen since 1725, Elpidia contains some excellent music... even if it isn't by Handel!

A strong cast and fine playing from La Nuova Musica gives Handel's Berenice a reasonably fair outing, but its original plot weaknesses constrain this opera from being anything more than a curio for the Handel connoisseur. 

Handel Singing Competition, which forms part of London Handel Festival, is unique in that the participants sing only Handel in all the rounds. 

David Fay was disappointed by Revolutionary Drawing Room's 25th anniversary concert, a performance of Haydn's Seven Last Words at St George's, Hanover Square which lacked emotional engagement.