Composer: Muffat, Georg (1653-1704)

The element of surprise in this seemingly standard Late Night Prom of Handel, Muffat, Bach and Purcell by the period-instrument orchestra Academy of Ancient Music was Leopold Stokowski.

My sweet course of the sumptuous feast, under the title of the Valletta International Baroque Festival, arrived on 18 January. The fare was a selection of various European deserts, performed by the New Century Baroque at the Jesuit Church in Valletta.

The music spoke for itself the other day in Amsterdam, as the truly communicative and inspiring Helsinki Baroque Orchestra showed its strength on the Concertgebouw stage.

17th Century Europe witnessed the rise of Italian opera and French ballet. These forms, and the distinct musical language of their composers, were highly influential on the music of England and Germany. The cosmopolitan music of Henry Purcell made up the bulk of The English Concert’s program, along with two instrumental works by his German contemporaries Heinrich Biber and Georg Muffat.