Freiburger Barockorchester & Collegium Vocale Gent . Masaaki Suzuki

If you haven't heard him perform this work, then this is the concert where his musical ingenuity will ultimately leave you spellbound. Marco Beasley, the public's favourite when it comes to early music, has concentrated on the rich Italian Christmas repertoire, together with his music ensemble Accordone and his musical comrade Guido Morini. It is not only German-speaking Europe that knew how to impressively set Christ's nativity story to music during the Baroque period. Arcangelo Corelli had an instant hit with his concerto grosso "fatto per la notte di Natale". But he was not the only one. A number of his contemporaries set the Christmas story to music in cantata form. Alessandro Scarlatti left a large number of solo cantatas that are among the best and most valuable in the Italian baroque repertoire. Those who are familiar with them know that Morini and Beasley enjoy burrowing deep into the musical archives looking for lesser-known, but not necessarily less interesting, composers. Alessandro Stradella is a prime example. He is rarely played today, but in the seventeenth century he was one of the biggest Italian names in the genre of religious music and oratorio. In addition, Handel's brilliant, youthful work from his Italian period is presented by this company, in this undoubtedly attractive concert.