Handel’s set of twelve concerti grossi op. 6, published in 1740, is perhaps the greatest collection of Baroque orchestral music. Its scoring for two solo violins, violoncello, strings and continuo places it in the tradition deriving from Corelli’s famous concertos, though Handel draws on an astonishing range of musical idioms, ranging from French dances and seventeenth-century German keyboard music to Vivaldi and Domenico Scarlatti.

In this concert five of the finest op. 6 concertos are contrasted with three works with solo trumpet by Italian composers connected with Handel.  He came into contact with Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti (Domenico’s father) while he was in Rome in 1707 and 1708, and he made use of Stradella’s music in his own works, notably in the oratorio Israel in Egypt.

Crispian Steele-Perkins is a regular and welcome visitor to the Festival. He has been described as ‘the world’s leading player of the Baroque trumpet’, and continues to delight, amuse and instruct audiences around the world.