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Scotland's Dunedin Consort offers a radiant program of Purcell and his peers.

Andreas Scholl and Collegium 1704 team up for a refreshing treatment of an early repertoire.

The OAE Night Shift team and their smartphone perform Purcell in a surprisngly formal setting at Sage Gateshead. 

Joseph Middleton and Carolyn Sampson were perfectly matched in Fleurs, the final concert of Leeds Lieder's Day of Song at The Venue in Leeds.

Virtuostic and expressive playing from all performers in a challenging and enjoyable programme of Handel arias and sonatas, plus music from two contemporaries.

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.

If one had idly wondered how a programme of English love songs, sung by a German, would be received by a Norwegian audience, in a wet and windy Bergen, the answer came loud and clear at this week's International Festival.

Right, we had our fun with the lively Scholl/Jaroussky concert in the Barbican in December, now for the serious stuff, Andreas Scholl singing the Purcell his admirers have wanted to hear for years. With one or two exceptions, the programme concentrated on Purcell's quieter, deeper and more reflective repertoire.