Messiah from King's

As Christmas approaches, the world-famous Choir of King’s College takes a break from rehearsals for its Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols to come to Birmingham. Stephen Cleobury conducts them, a distinguished line-up of soloists, and the Academy of Ancient Music in the best-loved of all choral works: Handel’s Messiah.

Classic FM’s Anne-Marie Minhall, says of tonight’s recommended concert: "It’s quite incredible to think that when Handel was composing Messiah his career was on a downward trajectory. At first, there was a rather lukewarm reception to the new work. As time passed, though, Messiah grew in popularity and now, as one of the most performed works anywhere, it’s difficult to imagine a world without it."