Continuo Connect — Profile // Sounds Baroque

Sounds Baroque delights in conveying the thrilling theatricality and intense passion of music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Praised for its ‘‘stylish aplomb’’ in the Sunday Times, Sounds Baroque has collaborated with many eminent performers including Simon Callow, Anna Dennis, Dame Emma Kirkby, Mark Padmore and Carolyn Sampson. The group is often heard on BBC Radio 3 and performs widely, with celebrated appearances at London’s Southbank Centre, Kings Place and St John's Smith Square, and at international festivals in Bristol, Cheltenham, London, Northern Aldborough, Roman River, Ryedale, Tel Aviv, Two Moors and York.

A unique feature of their work is the devising of carefully crafted pasticcio operas, evolving what was a common eighteenth-century practice for the modern age. ‘‘Casanova’’ was commissioned for London’s prestigious Baroque Unwrapped series and featured Timothy West in the role of narrator. ‘‘Dinner with Handel’’ was commissioned as the opening event of the world's first official Handeliade in September 2021, and will receive its US première in February 2024.

2022 saw Sounds Baroque continue its partnership with Cambridge Handel Opera with an acclaimed staged production of Handel’s ‘‘Tamerlano’’. Described as ‘‘truly wonderful’’ by Cambridge Independent, their collaborations have seen group principals mentor and perform alongside advanced period instrumentalists from over ten leading institutions.