Artiste: Susan Hamilton

Deft programming, fine arrangements and playing from Mr McFall's Chamber and guest soprano Susan Hamilton.

The Dunedin Consort are, as I write, engaged in recording Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. On the eve of this undertaking, they presented the third and final part of their Brandenburg/Cantata series. The format of paired concerto and cantata in either half contained a novelty: this was the first time I'd heard the consort play a composer other than Bach.

Contrasting vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular, the Dunedin Consort's 'Brandenburg/Cantata Series II' featured two of Bach's popular concerti grossi, flanked by a pair of sacred cantatas.Instrumental contrast distinguished the cantatas as much as the concerti.