A mouth-watering selection of Handel fare was on the menu at the Burford Singers’ annual pre-Christmas concert on Sunday, and the choir performed with its usual cheerful enthusiasm under the ever-reliable baton of Brian Kay. In the first half the singers treated us to some sparkling renditions of the four Coronation anthems, performing with their usual technical assurance and sense of commitment. The exhilarating Zadok the Priest made for an attention-grabbing opening, and was delivered in an appropriately robust and spirited manner, the look of joy on the singers’ faces as captivating as the quality of the sound. The exuberance was sustained throughout the four anthems, with some fine contrasts in the reflective middle movement of Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened and the graceful elegance of My Heart is Indicting.

Sandwiched in between was The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, the famous, toe-tapping Sinfonia from Handel’s oratorio Solomon, performed here with wonderful lightness of touch by the Cotswold Chamber Orchestra.

Handel’s Dixit Dominus occupied the second half, with choir, orchestra and soloists responding magnificently to the harmonic and textural challenges of the piece — written, astonishingly, by a composer of only 22. Again the choir impressed, with some good, solid singing, clear diction and crisp entries. It’s a shame that the piece makes so few demands on its soloists, sopranos apart. Bass Jon Stainsby and tenor Mark Dobel had particularly brief appearances, but both revealed pleasantly melodic voices, while mezzo Cathy Bell made the most of her one solo aria, Virgam virtutis tuae emittet, which she sang with great conviction and purpose.

It was sopranos Anna Devin and Rhona McKail who had the lion’s share of the solo work; their voices blended beautifully in De torrente in via bibet, while Devin delivered the tricky Tecum principium in sparkling style. The chorus had the last word, though, and Amen was a glorious finish to the evening.