For a harpsichordist, there can be no more emphatic way of celebrating a big birthday than playing Bach's Brandenburg concertos. Trevor Pinnock, celebrating his 60th, went a step further, forming an ensemble of specialist baroque players to do it in style. Sheffield was the venue for the actual day and, by the time of this concert in Birmingham, the grandly named European Brandenburg Ensemble already had part of a CD recording of the series in the can. Pinnock looked understandably pleased.

Being 60 hasn't changed Pinnock's impish grin nor his distinctive walk to the harpsichord, a purposeful amble worthy of a Monty Python character. More importantly, the musicianship, which with his English Concert has helped changed perceptions of the Brandenburgs, is as fine as ever. This new group took a little time to get into their stride with the first concerto in F, perhaps a little dwarfed in the immensity of the space. But any unsteadiness was quickly overcome and the fifth Brandenburg was joyous, with the lines of Katy Bircher's flute and Beatrix Hülsemann's violin intertwining elegantly in the opening allegro, and Pinnock relishing the harpsichord's biggest moment of glory in the outbreak of virtuosity that is the cadenza of this movement.

After such exhilaration, the tender intimacy of these three instruments in the Affettuoso was captivating. The intensity of focus had the effect of shrinking Symphony Hall to chamber proportions, underlining both the audacity of Pinnock's venture and the amazing variety and complexity of Bach's achievement. Concertos three and four achieved the vital balance between Bach's energising rhythms and the discipline of the complex writing, while the bright trumpet colour in the Brandenburg No 2 in F brought things to a suitably festive end.