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View all events for category: Classical music

Christmas Oratorio: Parts 1 – 3

Sat 5 Dec 2026, 7pm

Hear from Bach at his most joyous in a work that celebrates the power of love, as Václav Luks conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Part of Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Classical Season - Autumn/Winter 2026/27

More details for Queen Elizabeth Hall

Tickets from £18 + £4 booking fee View more time and price information

Run time 1 hour and 50 minutes (approx)

Dates & tickets

Part of a Multi-buy offer

This is a rare chance to hear all six parts of the original Christmas hit performed over two nights.

There could be no better way to end the year in which the OAE celebrates the 40th anniversary of its formation in 1986 than with a work that has been a mainstay.

The Christmas Oratorio was first performed as six cantatas, each focusing on a different aspect of the Christmas story, across six feast days in different churches around Leipzig.

Our first evening opens with the bells ringing out for Christmas Day then cuts to the angels’ encouragement to the shepherds that there’s no need to be afraid.

The Evangelist’s narration interweaves with dramatic choruses, chorales and reflective arias from the cast of soloists.

Václav Luks, the founder of Prague’s Collegium 1704, returns to the OAE following critically acclaimed collaborations in Bach’s Mass in B Minor at the Southbank Centre and in the pit at Glyndebourne Opera.

Luks completes the programme with a Credo from a mass by fellow Czech Jan Dismas Zelenka. Bach almost certainly knew Zelenka and held his music in high regard for its inventive harmony and what Luks describes as its ‘extraordinary power’.

Performers

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Václav Luks conductor

Sofia Kirwan-Baez soprano

Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano

Guy Cutting tenor

Florian Störtz bass

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Repertoire

Zelenka: Credo from Missa Omnium Sanctorum, ZWV.21

Bach: Cantata 1 (Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage)

Interval

Bach: Cantata 2 (Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend); Cantata 3 (Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen) from Christmas Oratorio. Performed in German, with surtitles.

Need to know

Age guidance

For ages 7+. Under-12s must be accompanied by an adult on our site.

Event information

Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer at 6pm: pre-concert talk. Admission free.

Parts 4 – 6 can be heard the following evening, on Sunday 6 December. Book for both concerts to experience a complete performance of the Christmas Oratorio, or enjoy either as a standalone event.

Times & tickets

Dates, times and prices

Dates & times

05 Dec 2026, 7pm

Run time

1 hour and 50 minutes (approx)

All timings are approximate and subject to change

Standard entry

from £18 + £4 booking fee

Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.

Concessions

Learn more about concession discounts

Refunds and exchanges

Find out more about our refund and exchange policy

Multi-buy Autumn/Winter 26/27 discount

As part of our classical music multi-buy offer, book multiple Autumn/Winter 2026/27 concerts in the same transaction to receive a discount:

3 – 4 events: 10% discount
5 – 7 events: 15% discount
8 – 10 events: 20% discount
11 – 14 events: 25% discount
15+ events: 30% discount

Discounts apply to selected events, September 2026 – January 2027 inclusive. Offer can’t be combined with the Spring/Summer 2026 multi-buy.

View all events in this multi-buy offer

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For your visit

This event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.

Queen Elizabeth Hall building at Southbank Centre

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to both our second-largest auditorium and the Purcell Room.

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