Instrument: Viola da Gamba

Cool new works sit alongside Bach and the baroque

A performance of Handel's short masterpiece Apollo e Dafne at the Halle Handel Festival was somewhat disappointing but Fulvio Bettini impressed in the bass role.

Hespèrion XXI dazzle us with virtuosity as they celebrate musical Europe in the heart of Westminster.

Thanks to the dedicated work of scholars and practitioners in the field, in the last decade, audiences in London have become relatively familiar with the music of female composers in the Baroque period.

The early music ensemble peppered its diverse program with the rollicking play A Christmas Messe. While not all arrangements worked well, expertise and emotion made for a pleasurably unique performance.

A second concert featuring Jordi Savall at the 2018 Perth Festival comprised much reduced forces - just himself and harpist Andrew Lawrence-King - but was just as rich, varied and captivating.

Jordi Savall, Hespèrian XXI and Tembembe Ensamble Continuo brought an exciting mix of instrumental playing, song and dance presenting Baroque and pre-Baroque music from Spain and the New World.