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Two concerts at Milton Court intersperse The Four Seasons with concertos from L'estro armonico and sacred cantatas featuring countertenor John Holiday.

Joined by the exquisitely subtle Accademia Bizantina led by Alessandro Tampieri, Scholl brought little-known but no less great devotions to the Virgin Mary to life with impetus and intimacy.

Beautiful sacred vocal music by Vivaldi and Pergolesi, performed by Roberta Invernizzi, Sonia Prina and the English Concert.

Andreas Scholl, Klara Ek and the Academy of Ancient music perform Vivldi, Pergolesi and Wassenaer at the Barbican. All the musicians worked exceptionally well as part of the collective, turning the programme into a real delicacy.

Pairing music from the 18th and 20th centuries is a common programming strategy, one which can bring out interesting parallels between the musical preoccupations of two very different eras. Some 20th-century composers looked to the more distant past as a way of engaging with traditions before the emotionally coercive 19th century.