Ermonela Jaho leads the cast in La Rondine at the Barbican [Fadil Berisha]

IF you can tear yourself away from thoughts of Christmas, the Royal Opera has a big new show opening Dec 9 that’s refreshingly unseasonal and features a young star voice not to be missed.

The show is Handel’s Ariodante which, like all Handel operas, has a plot so complicated you’re allowed to give up on it and just follow the music. But what music. And what a singer it has in the title role, which is one of those jobs originally written for a castrato but – castrati being hard to come across these days – is usually sung by a mezzo in drag.

Here, the mezzo is the charismatic Canadian-Italian Emily D’Angelo who, the last time I heard her sing, sent shivers down my spine – it’s such a deep, rich and confronting voice. The run is Dec 9-21. rbo.org.uk

• As for Handel, he’s in season now as the Messiahs start to pile up. There’s a maverick but punchy (I’ve seen it) account at Smith Square, done by the excellent little touring opera company Wild Arts with an element of staging. Dec 9:sinfoniasmithsquare.org.uk. But another, grander opera company, Glyndebourne, brings a supercharged Messiah to the Albert Hall, Dec 5: royalalbert­hall.com. And for something on the doorstep if you’re in Camden, Hampstead Collective present another version with period instruments at Hampstead Parish Church, Dec 6: thehampsteadcollective.com. Which is enough Messiahs for now – though I daresay there will be more next week.

• Think Puccini, think Tosca, Bohème, Madam Butterfly…but the chances are you won’t think La Rondine, which is one of his less performed operas. So seize the chance to hear it – not staged, alas, but in concert – at the Barbican, Dec 5, done by Opera Rara with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and starring the glamorous world-class diva Ermonela Jaho (no expense spared there). barbican.org.uk

• One of Antonio Pappano’s missions when he became chief conductor of the LSO was to focus on Vaughan Williams. And he’s been doing nothing less, in a sequence of the symphonies that continues Dec 11 with No.2, the magical London Symphony that makes you wish the capital was half as alluring as VW depicts it. For good measure, on Dec 7 he also conducts a performance of two VW choral works, Flos Campi and Dona Nobis Pacem. Both concerts are at the Barbican. barbican.org.uk

• Highgate International Chamber Music Festival rounds off this week with a baroque night, Dec 6; a recital in which cellist Natalie Klouda plays bach alongside her own music, Dec 7; and a festival finale of Shostakovich and Brahms, also Dec 7. chambermusicfestival.co.uk

• Elite choral groups can be a touch earnest in their presentation. But one that isn’t – because it’s led by Robert Hollingworth, one of the funniest people on the choral circuit – is I Faglioni (the name means Little Beans) who have a Christmas concert at Kings Place, Dec 11, that I imagine will be truly festive. Music by Charpentier, Howells, Holton. kingsplace.co.uk
And there’s more Christmas choral music from the chamber choir Voxcetera, Dec 5, St Mary Brookfield, NW5. voxcetera.co.uk

• Finally, Highgate’s intimate Salon Music series continues, with another visit from the London Chamber Ensemble – this time playing Brahms and Schubert. Ticket covers concert and supper (both of decidedly superior quality). salonmusic.co.uk