The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's Playing to the Gallery programme was a celebration of the National Art Collections Fund's centenary year, pairing music with related artworks from the nation's museums. The programme was a potpourri of baroque music, with the orchestra performing under projections of the paintings, sculptures and artefacts.
As well as some genuinely close connections, such as Purcell's Dance of the Chinese Man and Woman from The Fairy Queen partnered by Joseph Williams's porcelain The Chinese Musicians, there were some decidedly opportunistic pairings. The only connection between Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico concertos and Canaletto's The Bucintoro Returning to the Molo is that both happened to have lived in Venice. However, even without the Canaletto, the OAE's performance was astonishingly vivid, led with infectious enthusiasm by Elizabeth Wallfisch.
The concert's convoluted concept unearthed some forgotten figures. James Oswald is not a household name, but he was one of Scotland's most influential composers in the early 18th century. Judging by his A major Serenata for two solo violins, he was a deft stylist, combining Italianate virtuosity with a flair for Scots fiddling - music unleashed with abandon by the two soloists.
The only new piece on the programme was Jonathan Dove's The Middleham Jewel, composed this year and inspired by an exquisite late medieval artefact that was discovered in 1985. His music created a rich parallel for the jewel's fecund symbolism, with its miniature engravings of 15 saints and a tender nativity scene. Dove's piece was a mix of ancient and modern, as motoric rhythms embellished plainchant melodies, and the OAE players revelled in its minimalist riffs as much as its arcane references.