RED Priest is named for the fiery, carrot-topped Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Piers “twinkle-fingers” Adams, the recorder virtuoso who leads the quartet, is equally unconventional, though confining red to his satin jacket and shirt.

If Christmas is mainly about mirth and merriment, then this rousing evening hit the bull's eye. These Baroque-based escapades demanded little seriousness. An exception was harpsichordist David Wright's robust treatment of a Noël Suisse by Michel Corrette. Cellist Angela East also launched a challengingly outré attack on the Prelude & Fugue in Bach's Third (solo) Suite.

But Wright mainly took a back seat, while his colleagues cavorted and frolicked infectiously. Adams, who is incorrigibly histrionic, delights in a wide variety of recorders, specializing in Formula 1-style tempos at stratospheric heights. In Corelli's Christmas Concerto – in a “budget version” sans orchestra – his cadences were never knowingly under-decorated.

But it was all great fun. A superbly rustic arrangement of Vivaldi's Winter, where the masterly violin of Adam Summerhayes shared the solo role with recorders, was a vivid reminder of bitter chill, chattering teeth, dodgy ice and cosy hearths.

Much else devolved into parody, albeit hilariously. Zadok (the Red Priest) morphed into the Queen of Sheba, Albinoni's doleful Adagio turned tango, and a potted 'Messiah' suite used every rabbit in the hat to dramatise Handel, brilliantly. It was left to a gentle gemshorn duet to evoke the true core of Christmas.