Brilliant Baroque at opening concert of Queen’s Hall series

One of the earliest records I bought was called Zauber des Baroque, and there was a certain truism about the title as music from the Baroque period can be magical. But if you add the mercurial brilliance of Nicola Benedetti to the equation, that magic is intensified.

The opening concert of the Queen’s Hall series at this year’s Edinburgh Festival was two hours of brilliant Baroque, courtesy of Ms Benedetti, Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music.

I have heard her perform wonderful concerti by Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn etc but Saturday’s performance might have eclipsed anything I’ve witnessed this young lady produce.

Vivaldi’s Grosso Mogul concerto was the telling factor. She produced a performance that was full of virtuosic brilliance, in a work where the ratio of semiquavers to a bar was quite mind-blowing.

The passages flowed like a silken river, but it wasn’t by any means Benedetti against the rest.

Her rapport and cohesion with the Academy and Egarr was as close an affinity between players as you are likely to get.

And it wasn’t all flashy flair and virtuosity. Her softer, more melodic side shone through on occasion, particularly in the slow movement of the D major Dresden concerto.

And again it wasn’t all about Benedetti or Vivaldi. The role in the proceedings of the Academy and the Italian composer’s German contemporary, George Telemann, and was just as potent. In fact, his inventiveness contrasted with Vivaldi’s “by the book” approach.

This was obvious in his Alster Overture, where he painted images of Hamburg and his A minor concerto for violin, strings and continuo where the odd frog-like sound emanated from the ensemble, as fine a collection of Baroque musicians are you are likely to experience.

All in all, it didn’t just entertain but gave a marvellous insight into the Baroque era.