The Arioso Ensemble – two singers and six musicians – playing original instruments or modern copies to capture the authentic sound of the period, had researched a fascinating programme of largely unfamiliar works by composers both famous and obscure, and the 18th-century Square Chapel provided the perfect setting for them.
Representing the influential Italian style, Vivaldi's concerto per flauto, due violini e basso lacked nuance and finesse, but in Corelli's Trio Sonata Op 1 No IX the players had found their form with some expressive dialogues between the 2 violinists, Susan Marshall and Caroline Goddard.
Bononcini's heartfelt aria Deh Lascia o Core was thoughtfully accompanied by Martyn Hodgson on baroque guitar.
Sweet-voiced tenor Roger Betterton and soprano Anne Fallon sang well-characterised Spanish and Italian entrees from Le Ballet des Nations, with Monteclair's evocatively pastoral La Bergere in a more typically French style.
Handel's Love in Her Eyes from Acis and Galatea was a well-projected example of the English style.
Julia Anderson