This is a celebration of two things: the Italian influence on baroque music elsewhere in Europe (as the ‘motivator’ is a harpist don’t be surprised to find Ireland on the agenda), and the freedoms enjoyed by musicians at that time. The latter are also twofold: the licence to improvise, and the relaxed attitude toward the reworking of existing material – which dominates this programme.
Lawrence-King deploys four different types of harp, uses an unusually varied battery of continuo instruments, and re-dresses familiar concertos in unfamiliar garb. In some cases the ripieno is changed, the soloist in the Vivaldi becomes a harpist, and BWV989 is appropriated by the double-strung Davidsharfe. Bach adapted 16 concertos by Italian composers for solo harpsichord, the instrument for which he wrote his own Italian Concerto; Lawrence-King reconstructs from that work The Original Concerto That Never Was, adding oboe and bassoon to form a concertino in which the harpsichord takes a back seat and is somewhat starved of decibels: Bach in reverse.
There is a surprise around many corners and an abundance of magical sound, even when the musical result is a little less than convincing (I have still to learn to love the Vivaldi), and the performances by the star-studded cast are superb. How ‘authentic’ it all is depends on how open-minded you are (Lawrence-King presents the case for the defence in his annotation) but only the most straitlaced will let that spoil their enjoyment.'