In his lifetime Bach was never a good mixer. Even now, his music communicates a spiritual well-being so profound as to overshadow completely any works on the same programme by lesser men.

His concerto in C major for two pianos (harpsichords originally) had this effect at last night’s concert by the Intimate Symphony Players under Hugh Fenn.

The sturdy, rhythmical performance let the music speak for itself, and the slow movement dialogue between the two pianos was movingly unaffected. The final fugue was splendid.

Nevertheless, Vivaldi’s tense and angular ‘Concerto Grosso’ in B minor for four violins came close to attracting equal interest. The players balanced their tone fairly carefully, but an unsympathetic acoustic revealed a few small defects in intonation.

The players in the Bach were Mary Jordan and Hugh Fenn, and in the Vivaldi, Moira Lloyd, Richard Thorn, F.J. Lewy and Anne Stirling.

For some of the programme a continuo instrument (piano) was used – a good idea and historically correct. Some of the heavy ritardandi at the ends of movements were probably not authentic

Works by Gluck, Krieger and Handel completed the programme. The “Insyms”, as these concerts now seem to be called, offer some of the most consistently interesting music-making in the musical calendar.