Warning: this delightful disc is a veritable parliament of fowls reimagined as a series of ménages à trois, so seductive are the various combinations of viola d’amore, oboe d’amore, oboe, transverse flute and tenor chalumeau. Period-instrument ensemble Bell’Arte Salzburg shrinks and stretches according to need; here it comprises four soloists and a string quartet with violone and harpsichord continuo, the whole directed by viola d’amore soloist Annegret Siedel, who performs on three different instruments.

From the gorgeous opening of Telemann’s Concerto in E, in which transverse flute, oboe d’amore and viola d’amore sing long, languid phrases over gently throbbing strings, through Christoph Graupner’s Overture in F with its rapid fugato and lively dance movements, and Vivaldi’s darkly dramatic Concerto in A minor for viola d’amore and strings, to the spacious, delicate Grave of Graupner’s Concerto in B flat, this is music, and these are performances, to savour.

Not only are the colours spectacular, if predominantly autumnal – the playing is supremely characterful. One moment flautist Linde Brunmayr-Tutz sounds like a hyperactive cuckoo, the next like a mournful owl; oboist Martin Stadler evokes the ambiguous song of Keats’s Nightingale, while Christian Leitherer’s clarinet-like chalumeau conjures up the image of a particularly eloquent swan. While not quite in Fabio Biondi’s league in the Vivaldi in terms of sheer excitement, Siedel’s playing throughout is the very embodiment of sprezzatura; the remainder of the ensemble makes its presence felt through sympathetic and finely moulded accompaniments. A most attractive release.