Handel, left, lived at 25 Brook Street

IN recent weeks this column has been ambushed by Messiahs – it’s a seasonal hazard – but one more you need to know about, being arguably the prize example, is the performance by Polyphony with the Age of the Enlightenment Orchestra at Smith Square, December 23. Conducted by Stephen Layton and with soloists like Iestyn Davies, it’s the kind of dream-team show that justifies you standing up for the Hallelujah Chorus (something I always think tacky, but hey it’s Christmas). And if they tell you it’s sold out, beg to go on the waiting list. Bribe if necessary. sinfoniasmithsq.org.uk

Speaking of Messiah, there’s an immersive exhibition about the piece running right now in the very house where Handel wrote it: 25 Brook Street, W1, conveniently close to Regent Street if you need a break from Christmas shopping.

Handel was German by birth (which is why his setting of English words sometimes get the emphasis in the wrong place), but he lived most of his life in London, and was settled in Brook Street in 1741 when he composed the entirety of Messiah in under a month. It was also in Brook Street that he rehearsed the first performances and sold tickets from his front door, turning the place into a musical factory – though a handsome one that’s looking particularly good right now, decorated for Christmas and with the benefit of a recent renovation that’s opened up new rooms and made the building look sensational. What’s more, for the price of admission you can also go next door and see where Jimi Hendrix lived. Handel and Hendrix make a shotgun marriage, culturally, but they both had big hair (Handel’s was admittedly a wig), and may be bosom friends in heaven where they’re now perpetual neighbours in the star musicians quarter. handelhendrix.org

• Another old friend back for Christmas is The Snowman, running as a stage show – complete with Howard Blake’s air-walking music – at Sadler’s Wells’ satellite Peacock Theatre, WC2 until Jan 4: sadlerswells.com

But positively air-flying is the spruced up return of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the main Sadler’s Wells theatre to Jan 26. When I say Matthew Bourne’s, it should really be Tchaikovsky’s since this is one of the great ballet scores of all time. But Bourne’s re-imagining of the scenario, with a gay prince smitten by the feathery allure of all-male swans, is the statement that makes the show. And though the statement was first made 30 years ago, it remains bold, dazzling, and hugely entertaining – with Tchaikovsky’s music delivered by a pared-down, brutally amplified but nonetheless live orchestra who play well enough within the given limitations. Worth experiencing. sadlerswells.com

• Otherwise, the Royal Opera’s Hansel and Gretel – relatively conventional and certainly more magical than the gruesome psycho-staging at the Royal Academy of Music a few weeks ago – is back at Covent Garden until Jan 7: rbo.org.uk

And if your ears can still take seasonal choral music, there are accounts of Britten’s Ceremony of Carols at Westminster Abbey, Dec 20 (westminster-abbey.org) and St Giles, Cripplegate, Dec 21 (cityoflondonchoir.org); while the London Choral Sinfonia – a young, vibrant ensemble of singers and instrumentalists – are at Smith Square, Dec 21 with Vaughan Williams’ Carol Fantasia (sinfoniasmithsq.org.uk)