Johann Sebastian Bach portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann. Right: Soprano Mary Bevan. Photo: Victoria Cadisch

DESPITE all Boris Johnson’s efforts, Christmas doesn’t bow to politics and won’t be cancelled this year. So in early preparation for it, Highgate Choral Society present Bach’s Christmas Oratorio this Saturday, November 9, to get you in the mood.

Conducted as always by Ronald Corp, it comes with some unusually fine soloists – including the enchanting Mary Bevan (a soprano who can do no wrong in my book) and the dazzling James Way (who has the look of a cherubic choirboy but the voice of an incisively-projecting, world-class lyric tenor).

The band is Corp’s New London Orchestra.

The performance is at 7pm, on Saturday November 9, All Hallows Church, Savernake Road, Gospel Oak, NW3 2JP. Tickets £15-£25, cons £10. www.hcschoir.com/our-concerts/