THE 12 BEST CHRISTMAS PROGRAMMES
From wintry walks to adventures with Paddington, we choose this year’s festive highlights
1 St John’s Advent Carol Service
The annual Advent Carol
Service from St John’s College, Cambridge returns with the world premiere of Cecilia Mcdowall’s
A Prayer to St John the Baptist. This will be accompanied by the usual traditional Advent carols, as well as works by a selection of contemporary composers including Gabriel Jackson.
Radio 3: Choral Evensong;
2 Dec, 3pm
2 Winter Lights
Trumpeter Alison Balsom joins the BBC Concert Orchestra in Guy Barker’s concerto
The Lanterne of Light at the Southbank Centre, as part of an evening of wintry works.
The contemporary programme includes premieres of new pieces by Sarah Jenkins and Dobrinka Tabakova.
Radio 3: Live in Concert;
5 Dec, 7.30pm
3 Handel’s Messiah
You can’t have Christmas without Handel’s Messiah.
Radio 3 will be broadcasting this year’s rendition from St David’s Hall, Cardiff, with Katherine Watson, Iestyn Davies, Gwilym Bowen and Neal Davies appearing as soloists. Get ready to join in on the rousing ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.
Radio 3: Live in Concert;
6 Dec, 7.30pm
4 Temple Winter Festival
The stunning 12th-century Temple Church in London plays host to the Tallis Scholars in a concert formed around Palestrina’s jubilant double-choir mass. Also on the bill are two settings of the Magnificat by Praetorius and Nesbett, and a new work by Nico Muhly.
Radio 3: Live in Concert;
13 Dec, 7.30pm
5 EBU Christmas Music Day
The European Broadcasting Union’s Christmas Music
Day returns for its 23rd year, with concerts broadcast live from 13 European countries, all showcasing their nations’ traditional Christmas music.
The festive tour begins in Helsinki’s Kallio Church, with a chorale written by Sibelius specifically for the bells of this church, and ends with a concert of Bach from the Sankt Pölten Cathedral in Austria.
Radio 3: 16 Dec, 1pm
6 Breakfast Carol Competition
Budding composers across the UK have been submitting their four-part carols for
Radio 3’s annual Breakfast
Carol Competition. This year, entries were set to The Bee Carol, written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The winning carol, voted for by the public, will also be performed throughout Christmas Day on Radio 3. Radio 3: Breakfast; 21 Dec
7 Paddington’s Musical Adventures
Join the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Ben Palmer and narrator Simon Russell
Beale for a two-part Paddington special at the Barbican.
The stories, accompanied by illustrated projections and musical interludes, see Paddington make his conducting debut and become a member of the Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral. Radio 3: Afternoon Concert; 21 Dec, 2pm
8 Rutter & Chilcott Conduct Christmas Carols
The music of John Rutter and Bob Chilcott (see p21) has become embedded in British festive traditions. This year, they join forces to conduct their yuletide repertoire with the
BBC Singers and BBC Concert Orchestra at Saffron Hall. Expect seasonal choices including Rutter’s Star Carol and Chilcott’s The Shepherd’s Carol. Radio 3 in Concert; 21 Dec, 7.30pm
9 Winter Walk
Following his walk in Bach’s footsteps last year, writer Horatio Clare returns to Radio 3 for an immersive slow radio walk through Germany inspired by the idea of ‘the wanderer’. Clare will discuss the great writers and composers who celebrated nature wanderings, including Goethe, Schubert and Mahler. Radio 3: Winter Walk;
24 Dec, 2pm
10 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Celebrating its centenary, the 2018 service will be music director Stephen Cleobury’s last. A newly commissioned carol by Judith Weir, O Mercy Divine, will be performed by the choir alongside cellist Guy Johnston, who was once a King’s chorister under Cleobury’s leadership. BBC Two and Radio 4: Carols from King’s; 24 Dec, 3pm;
Radio 3; 25 Dec, 2pm
11 Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ at the Barbican
Edward Gardner leads the
BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Karen Cargill and Robert Murray in Berlioz’s exquisite oratorio this Christmas. In this month’s Building a Library (p68) we name the greatest recordings of this festive work.
Radio 3 in Concert;
24 Dec, 7.30pm
12 Last Night of the Proms on New Year’s Eve
Why not revisit one of the highlights of this year’s musical calendar? Andrew
Davis conducts the usual Last Night fare, as well as works by Hindemith, Milhaud and Panufnik. Saxophonist Jess Gillam and baritone Gerald Finley feature as soloists.
Radio 3 in Concert;
31 Dec, 7.30pm