Christmas time, harp time: Only the trombone is nearly as closely associated in our minds with angelic choirs of praise as the multi-stringed instrument that Xavier de Maistre plays so masterfully. But our expectations of the harp are not only fulfilled thanks to original works by Boïeldieu and Handel. The charismatic Frenchman shows us what else it can do: Handel also wrote the organ concerto, which has been arranged for harp now, exploring its wide range of sounds from fragile to overwhelming. Handel's festive “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” and Tchaikovsky's well-known, partly joyful, partly elegiac string serenade are performed at the beginning and end of this pre-Christmas concert by Festival Strings Lucerne.