As with so many other cultural events in the Principality, the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah was cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s concert, on Saturday, December 11, in its home venue of Saint Paul’s Anglican Church, was a very special occasion after the two-year break, enthusiastically received by an appreciative audience in the Anglican Church.

Director Errol Girdlestone dedicated the performance to the memory of the man who first invited the Ristretto ensemble to perform in the church in 2014, Father Walter Raymond, who died earlier this year.

The Swedish Church will be holding a concert for Saint Lucia in Saint Paul’s on December 16, starting at 19:30, while the church’s own carol service takes place on Sunday, December 19. Places need to be booked at parishassistantmonaco@gmail.com. A special Christingle carol service for children will take place at 17:30 on Saturday, December 18.