York Early Music Christmas Festival, Spiritato!, La Notte di Natale: Music For An Italian Baroque Christmas, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 12

JUST as kings and shepherds are said to have converged on the Nativity, much of the music that has since been conceived to celebrate the birth of Christ has allowed a range of styles – regal to rustic – to mingle and merge.

Taking the folk inflections of the pastorale as a catalyst, Baroque group Spiritato! made an especially festive contribution to York Early Music Christmas Festival on Wednesday with a programme in which drones and dances rubbed shoulders with concerti and counterpoint.

This equal-opportunities attitude to "high" and "low" culture was mirrored by the ensemble’s commitment to placing lesser-known composers alongside their well-worn contemporaries. Three concerto grossi dazzled: the captivating arcs and spiky friction of Torelli contrasted with the downcast-to-jovial journey of Locatelli, and the swerve and sway of Sammartini. The 11 instrumentalists capitalised on the versatile NCEM acoustic, intimacy and immediacy giving way to orchestral bustle in the blink of an eye.

Each half contained a Christmas-themed cantata pastorale by Scarlatti. With her delivery, soprano soloist Augusta Hebbert opted for heavenly assurance over divine revelation, her consummate sense of melodic clarity underlining the composer’s lyrical craft.

In light of these novelties, the programme’s pair of warhorses were granted new leases of life. Under the rousing leadership of Kinga Ujszászi, a gripping transparency pervaded Vivaldi’s Winter, a spontaneous freedom in the finale in particular enabling vivid patterns of tension and release. Corelli’s "Christmas" Concerto, meanwhile, was propelled onwards with heart-warming resolve.

Richard Powell