Made in Italy

Sensational and dramatic, melodic and emotional, Italian music took London by storm in 1711 with Handel’s wildly successful opera, Rinaldo. The excitement and novelty of Corelli and Vivaldi’s instrumental stylings were also catching on across the British Isles, attracting a cohort of Italian musicians to settle in Britain and, the the case of Francesco Barsanti, absorb Scots culture into his own music.

'Passacaglia Duo' (Annabel Knight, recorders/flutes and Robin Bigwood, harpsichord), are long time members of the award-winning baroque chamber ensemble, Passacaglia, with whom they have performed across Britain, Europe and America in leading early music festivals and venues including London’s Wigmore Hall and Southbank. They have featured in numerous worldwide and radio programmes and broadcasts, and have recorded a number of acclaimed discs for Linn Records, Naxos and most recently for their own label, BCR.