The Hallé Christmas Concert

Joining the Hallé for their indispensable contribution to Nottingham’s Christmas calendar is Dutch baritone Quirijn de Lang. He’s an impressively versatile performer, equally at home singing the music of Lerner and Loewe as he is when donning the Toreador’s cape in Bizet’s Carmen. Both sides of his artistry feature in this festive programme. There are rapt devotional numbers in the form of Cesar Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Adolphe Adam’s O Holy Night, and Quirijn’s verbal dexterity will get a workout in Figaro’s immortal aria, Largo al Factotum, from the Barber of Seville.

The dashing overture to Rossini’s comic opera also features in the rich mix of orchestral fancies for the evening, with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker providing a quintet of its best-loved numbers. Nigel Hess’s A Christmas Overture treats a line-up of famous carols to a sparkling makeover and there’s some TV and movie fun from Alan Silvestri and Sam Fonteyn, whose Pop Looks Bach formerly captured the thrill of the BBC’s Ski Sunday programme. Add in a host of classic Christmas songs (with audience participation, of course) and your musical celebrations are complete.