The first decades of the 1700s were early days for the cello sonata; indeed, if Vivaldi had not been so keen on them, pickings would be even slimmer than they are. So we can hardly blame Tatty Theo for wanting to appropriate music as good as Handel’s recorder sonatas for her instrument, and neither can we feel that Handel would have disapproved. As Theo points out, he wrote some exquisite solos for the cello in his oratorios (my favourite comes in the Ode for St Cecilia’s Day) and it is hard to believe that he would not have written or adapted sonatas for the instrument during the period when his other solo sonatas were composed (which is to say the 1710s and ’20s), had it been more popular at the time.

The supposition is even more easily made on hearing these spirited performances, which render the novel concept of Handel cello sonatas totally convincing. True, we lose some of the recorder’s mellifluousness in a movement such as the first of HWV377, but there is a sure gain in melodic richness and soul. Theo’s playing does not lack spritely agility either, being airy, bright and full of detailed articulation. Her sound is a little wiry at times, but this is better than being dour and gruff, and it is always nourished by just about the right amount of enlivening vibrato. The transcriber Carolyn Gibley’s harpsichord can also sound a touch steely (the church acoustic may have something to do with it) but her accompaniments are musically alert, and as full and supportive as a plump cushion. Baroque cellists, rush for these arrangements – it’s your lucky day!