Classical highlights: concerts and operas to stream this Christmas

Royal Opera House Christmas Concert

Conducted by Mark Wigglesworth and introduced by Roderick Williams, the ROH presents a selection of numbers from fairytale operas and repertory favourites. There are scenes from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Mozart’s Magic Flute and Puccini’s La Bohème; the soloists include Sophie Bevan and Hanna Hipp, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and Andrés Presno, and Filipe Manu and Ross Ramgobin.
• Streamed live on 18 December, and available on demand until 17 January

Messiah

Anyone missing their seasonal fix of Handel’s oratorio has fine alternatives this year. Richard Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music at the Barbican, with soloists Rowan Pierce, Iestyn Davies, Ben Johnson and Ashley Riches; for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Christian Curnyn conducts a performance recorded in St Paul’s, Knightsbridge, with Anna Dennis, Christine Rice, Hugo Hymas and Dingle Yandell; and, streamed live from Perth is John Butt and the Dunedin Consort’s Messiah with soloists Jess Dandy Mhairi Lawson, Robert Davies and Anthony Gregory.
• Academy of Ancient Music: streamed live (£) on 19 December and available on demand for 48 hours afterwards
• Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment streamed on demand (£) on the OAE player from Christmas Day, then available for a year.
• Dunedin Consort: streamed live (£) on 23 December

A Spanish Nativity

Stile Antico’s seasonal lunchtime programme at the Wigmore Hall in London brings together ravishing choral masterpieces from the highpoint of the Spanish renaissance. There’s music by Francisco Guerrero and Alonso Lobo, Mateo Flecha, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Christóbal de Morales.
• Streamed live on 21 December, and then available on demand

A Choral Odyssey

Harry Christophers and the Sixteen’s six-part online series features choral music, recorded in different architectural settings around the country and presented by Simon Russell Beale – who, with conductor Christophers, puts the glorious music in a technical, social and political context. There are instalments devoted to John Sheppard and Richard Davy, Guerrero and the Spanish Golden Age, Henry Purcell, William Byrd and Arvo Pärt, the origins of the carol, and to Christmas music.
• Available on demand (£) until 31 January

Fidelio

Celebrate the final days of Beethoven 250 with Opera North’s hugely acclaimed semi-staging of his only opera filmed at Leeds Town Hall. Toby Spence, Rachel Nicholls and Brindley Sherratt are among a standout cast of soloists, Mark Wigglesworth conducts.
• Available on demand (£) until 4 January.

Krystian Zimerman/LSO/Rattle: Beethoven cycle

The great pianist’s survey of Beethoven’s five piano concertos was one of the year’s hottest tickets – but alas, the only way anyone is able to see the cycle is online, filmed at LSO St Luke’s in London, with Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra.
• Streamed (£) on 17 December (Concertos Nos 1 and 3), 19 December (Nos 2 and 4) and 21 December (No 5), with each programme available for 48 hours afterwards

Cinderella

Filmed on location in and around Leeds and sung in English, Northern Opera Group’s version of the “salon operetta” by the great 19th-century mezzo Pauline Viardot is directed by Sophie Gilpin and conducted by Chris Pelly, with Claire Wild as Cinders.
• Available on demand (£) until 31 January

The Creatures of Prometheus

Stephen Fry’s narration and Hillary Leben’s animation bring the story of Prometheus to life, while Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia bring panache and grace to Beethoven’s only ballet.
• Available on demand

Così Fan Tutte

Roxana Haines’s concert staging for Scottish Opera of Mozart and Da Ponte’s comedy, filmed at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, with Stuart Stratford conducting. Catriona Hewitson, Margo Arsane, Shengzhi Ren and Arthur Bruce are the lovers, with Charlie Drummond as Despina and Michael Mofidian as Alfonso.
• Available on demand

Bryn Terfel

The great baritone’s contribution to the Met Stars Live in Concert series is a programme recorded in Brecon Cathedral. Terfel sings a range of Welsh and English-language numbers, as well as the Song to the Evening Star from Wagner’s Tannhäuser; soprano Natayla Romaniw, tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, harpist Hannah Stone and the folk group Calan are his guests.
• Available on demand (£) until 26 December

L’Enfant et les Sortilèges

Don’t miss Vopera’s imaginative and hugely enjoyable version of Ravel’s short opera, with none of its wit, glitter or tenderness sacrificed despite all the parts having to be recorded individually during lockdown.
• Available on demand

Owen Wingrave

Grange Park Opera’s filmed version of Britten’s penultimate opera, is based on a short story by Henry James and originally written for television. Conducted by James Henshaw, Stephen Medcalf’s production was recorded in a variety of stately home locations in September; the fine cast is headed by Ross Ramgobin, with Susan Bullock, Richard Berkeley Steele, William Dazeley and Janis Kelly.
• Available on demand until 31 January

Chineke!

Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell made her debut with the orchestra in a concert recorded last month at the Royal Festival Hall featuring music by Coleridge-Taylor, Haydn, Dvořák and Adolphus Hailstork’s tribute to Dr Martin Luther King Jr, The Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed.
• Watch on demand until 28 December.

Bluebeard’s Castle

The London Symphony Orchestra streams Simon Rattle’s compelling performance of Bartók’s only opera, recorded in September in a rescoring for chamber forces; Gerald Finley is Bluebeard and Karen Cargill is Judith.
• Available on demand until 1 February

The Pirates of Penzance

Enjoy pure unadultered silliness – and the very model of a modern major general – to see the year out with this witty all-male take on Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta that was first staged by Sasha Regan in 2009 at the Union theatre in Southwark. This revival was recorded in early December – during the brief window when live performances were allowed in London – at the Palace theatre.
• Streamed from 28 December to 3 January 2021 on stream.theatre (£), check website for timings.