Maybe it is a touch of the January blues that has prompted the Northern Sinfonia to prepare a programme that pairs two of Haydn's darkest, most introspective works. Haydn's symphonies no 26 and 49, known as the Lamentatione and La Passione respectively, are among the composer's most anguished creations, both having been conceived as Holy Week meditations on the Passion of Christ. I don't know - Christmas only just finished with and we're thinking about Easter already.

Even in such a sombre mood, the Sinfonia's playing was sublime enough to generate a sense of uplift. Guest conductor Harry Christophers is better known for what he achieves with 16 voices than with a couple of dozen instrumentalists, but he proved to be a sensitive, if slightly languid, interpreter of symphonic work.

A master of long-breathed, polyphonic lines, Christophers did remarkably little to adapt his approach, but crafted and coloured the instrumental voices as if they were members of a choir. Eloquently sculpted details melted into an overall wash of sound, and if the result felt a little restrained at times, it was also seductive.

The highlight of the programme came with the introduction of the human voice. The young Canadian soprano Gillian Keith is blessed with a clear, glittering tone, which on this occasion bubbled through the coloratura like spring water. She fluttered ravishingly through Handel's Italian cantata, Silete Venti, and although the Sinfonia performed on contemporary instruments, the style and phrasing were pure baroque.