The International Baroque Players is a group of highly talented young musicians specialising in
the performance of early music, especially from Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. For their
concert at St. Mary's Church for Shropshire Music Trust, seven players - four violins, viola, cello
and harpsichord-played works by several well-known composers which had a Christmas connection.
A Concerto Grosso by Corelli came first. This work included some beautiful moments of hymn-like
simplicity which sounded superb on the gut strings favoured by the players. Although these strings
are temperamental, requiring frequent re-tuning, they produce a pure, crisp sound for which the
acoustic of St. Mary's Church was the perfect setting. This was especially true when the
musicians played on the lower strings of their instruments without vibrato. The hushed effect
which this created was magical.
Composers such as Torelli and Locatelli used earlier Italian music as their inspiration, music
which had often been played on the bagpipes. These works were perhaps less inspired than those
by Vivaldi and Manfredini which closed the concert, but they all received warm, enthusiastic
performances from this excellent group.
Andrew Petch