Continuo Connect — Concert // Academy of Ancient Music: Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (BWV1046–1051)

All six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in one gloriously life-affirming concert from Laurence Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music.

In 1721, Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concerti grossi to the Margrave of Brandenburg – six controlled explosions of fantasy, melody and exuberant joy, glowing with all the colours of the baroque orchestra at its most unbuttoned. Hearing all six Brandenburg Concertos in one concert is a feast for the ear and refreshment for the spirit.

And that’s exactly what the Academy of Ancient Music are offering tonight, as AAM music director Laurence Cummings plays as first among equals in music that never grows old. When performed with the period instruments and historically-informed playing techniques of the AAM, Bach’s inspiration and vitality simply sings through: more vivid, more entertaining and more original than ever. This should be a treat.