STRINGS, harpsichord and two flutes were the canvas on which the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment painted a varied collection of eighteenth-century music last Sunday night.

The concert was littered with utterly arresting moments in what was already a colourful programme, the first of these provided by gentle flutes against sprightly strings in an ouverture by Christoper Graupner.

The flutes remained on stage for a trio sonata by Niccolò Jommelli, before the highlight of the first half came in Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s Introduttione Teatrale. Although a brief work, the dance-like syncopation and extended opening crescendos snatched the audience’s attention and held them throughout.

The orchestra’s leader, Kati Debretzeni, expertly performed a concerto by Jean-Marie Leclair, and although this piece lacked the intensity of the earlier works, energy returned in the second half with a further set of pieces by Leclair, a boisterous Tambourin closing proceedings with panache.

Locatelli again provided the pinnacle of this half. The quasi-operatic nature of his Concerto grosso Il pianto d’Arianna was a revelation, solo violin beautifully imitating recitative as the ancient story of Ariadne was told without a singer in sight.

With 2014 marking the 300th anniversary of C.P.E. Bach’s birth, the concert closed with his Symphony in E flat major, transporting us to colder climes and somewhat colder music which, nevertheless, provided a window into how music was to develop in years to come.

An engaging programme and excellent performance, demonstrating the vitality of the UK’s best early music festival.

- Martin Scheuregger