The Saturday evening sees the English Chamber Orchestra, directed by Stephanie Gonley, with flautist William Bennett and harpsichordist Christopher Bevan, in a programme including Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 and Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with Corelli’s Concerto Grosso op. 6 No. 2, Purcell’s G-minor Chaconne, Mozart’s early Divertimento K 136, and Monteverdi’s Il Ballo della Ingrate arranged by Raymond Leppard.

On the Sunday Evening, Red Priest performs “Nightmare in Venice”. They’ve caught the imagination of audiences with this audacious take on Vivaldi and his milieu, performing with idiosyncratic fire and energy. At first sight the performance of arrangements of orchestral works for an ensemble of recorder, violin, harpsichord and cello might seem likely to be disappointing, but instead they pack in sufficient energy and creativity to make a really interesting performance.

It would be wrong to get into a discussion of whether this is the “right” approach to the music. Arrangement was a normal 18th-century musical practice. Theirs is a fascinating take on the repertoire, and illuminating, as Jacques Loussier’s takes on Bach are illuminating, without pretending to be an “authentic” answer. Late on the Tuesday afternoon, ensemble La Monica offers a selection of “Virtuosic Music from Venice before Vivaldi”, reminding us of the rich traditions on which he drew.

The closing concert sees music from Couperin’s Léçons de Ténèbre performed by Emma Kirkby and Miriam Allen (sopranos) with Charles Medlam (Bass viol) and James Johnstone (organ). These are intense settings of the penitential music from the Maundy Thursday liturgy, written in 1714, and widely regarded as the culmination of the French tradition of setting this material. www.sherborneabbey.org