RICHARD Egarr has come a very long way since he was a chorister at York Minster some 40 years ago. He has not often returned in a professional capacity to his native heath, and harpsichord recitals are rare enough anyway, so this was an excellent chance to catch him live (not merely through his many excellent recordings).

He is a showman to his fingertips. Blessed with a technique that leaves even the most tortuous Bach at his mercy, he nevertheless oozes enthusiasm as if discovering the music for the first time. It’s not normally a good idea to address the troops before you have even played a note – anticipation needs slaking rather than piquing at that point – but thereafter his discourses, notably on Bach’s mathematical proportions, were fascinating, almost like a lecture-recital.

Three of the Partitas that Bach published in Leipzig as Op 1 in 1731 were accompanied by the less intense French Suite in G major. The early reaches of Partita One, in B flat, took time to settle, but after a glorious arioso that unveiled all Bach’s melodic powers he unleashed a stunning tour de force in the finale, playing by rote for the first time.

Dotted rhythms in the D major Partita, No 4, were beautifully taut as were the surrounding decorations. But nothing could compare with Partita No 6 in E minor, whose scrunching harmonies and incredible final fugue were absolutely breath-taking. Sensational stuff.