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A mixed programme of Corelli, Handel and Pergolesi brings beauty and spiritual intensity, as well as some empowered erotic playfulness, to an evening with the Academy of Ancient Music. 

Craig Ogden in Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Guitar Concerto no. 1 is the highlight of the Northern Chamber Orchestra's varied concert of (mostly) Italian music in Macclesfield.

Can you imagine being a concertgoer in the early years of the 18th century, when Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel were all writing new music and performers were being pushed to find new ways of playing?

Most striking about the Academy of Ancient Music’s playing is its neatness: every phrase is so precisely shaped, so clean. Presumably this is down to impeccable preparation as well as an intrinsic feeling in the group for how Baroque music should sound. But their playing also sounds fresh, new, surprising.