Billed as The Three Counter-tenors, this concert was by another variation of the infinitely adaptable Charivari Agréable, a more familiar Oxford ensemble, this time featuring the awesome vocal talents of James Armitage, Roderick Morris and James Potter. Their exquisite harmonies were interspersed with solo performances on the chamber organ and harpsichord by their musical director and accompanist, Kah-Ming Ng. They provided a surprisingly diverse programme of music ranging from the sixteenth century to the 1930s from all over Europe to the USA.

Though not as perfectly polished in performance as, say, the Marian Consort, the four of them worked their way into a marvellous array of Renaissance and baroque choral and chamber music in the first half of the concert, including spine-tingling and sense-ravishing pieces by Antonio Cabezón, Heinrich Schütz, Frescobaldi and Monteverdi, Purcell and Handel. There were some initial issues with balance, owing to the counter-tenor on the left having a much more powerful and resonant voice than the other two, but after a while this was adjusted, and the audience gradually relaxed into that delicious confidence, the expectation and delivery of extreme sensory gratification. It is still a thrillingly weird experience to hear grown men sing in this register. They don't sound exactly like women; something about the timbre and resonance of their voices is different, and has strange, haunting power. The smaller, more intimate scale of the venue, George Gilbert Scott's mini-masterpiece of Victorian Gothic, was perfectly suited to the mellow, wood-windy sound of the chamber organ, the crisper and tinklier notes of the harpsichord, and the utterly enrapturing vocal harmonies of the singers. In brief, the sensation is that of being pierced, invaded, flooded with divinely beautiful sounds. You don't much care what the words mean – the programme thoughtfully provided all the lyrics, but alas it was too dark to read them – you just want the sound to wash over you and through you until it almost feels as if the top of your head is about to explode with delight. I'm afraid the chamber organ, tooting like a benevolent owl, and the more astringent, measured and rational harpsichord, simply cannot compete.

Initially, the audience appeared to be rather shy and inhibited, clearly feeling that it would be bad form to applaud after every song, but after the interval these doubts disappeared and everyone loosened up a bit. Musical director Kah-Ming Ng began to share back stories and fascinating speculations about meaning, and after the virtuoso opening of François Couperin's risqué exchange between the naughty young 'poliçons' and the three vestal virgins, the audience could no longer restrain themselves from showing their appreciation in the traditional manner. It was followed by an utterly exquisite rendition of 'In the Bleak Mid-winter' and the hauntingly beautiful 'Northern dusk'. The concert closed triumphantly with a bunch of show tunes by Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. A rather odd mix, but hugely enjoyable and packed with Christmas spirit. Do rush to get tickets when they perform again.