From Messiah to Jonas Kaufmann: the best classical Christmas albums of 2020
Handel’s Messiah (Pentatone), the traditional Christmas work despite its Passiontide credentials, with spirited, lean performances from the Rias Kammerchor Berlin and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by Justin Doyle, with top soloists Julia Doyle, Tim Mead, Thomas Hobbs and Roderick Williams. Alpha & O: Music for Advent and Christmas (Resonus) by the Choirs of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, director Edward Wickham, offers plainchant and contemporary works by Judith Weir, Hannah Kendall, Diana Burrell, Christopher Fox and more.