The Academy of Ancient Music’s recent geo-political exploration of Vivaldi’s influence in Dresden was another success of the season.

To talk of Antonio Vivaldi and Dresden in the same breath may seem unusual, but the Academy of Ancient Music’s concert earlier this month illuminated the unlikely connection between Venice and Florence on the Elbe. During a charming pre concert talk, director Richard Egarr told us of the unparalleled brilliance of Dresden’s court orchestra in the early 1710s, and how violinist and leader Johann Georg Pisendel brought Vivaldi’s music back from Italy to make it a staple in the orchestra’s repertoire. Nearing the end of the AAM’s 2015-16 season, ‘Vivaldi in Dresden’ was an exciting evening of music making ‘built on the idea of orchestral reputation’, exploring the orchestral music of Vivaldi, as well as J.S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann.

Bach and Telemann do not fit into the Pisendel anecdote, and their historical place in the evening was somewhat ambiguous, though I feel they were woven into the programme to show both contrasts and similarities in the way the composers handled instrumental writing and compositional technique. Among the most beloved examples of Bach’s legacy are the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F major set the tone for the evening with a verve that captured the spirit and ethos of Bach that we find so appealing today. There were times when the ensemble lacked cohesion; however, the poised trio from the fourth movement was an opportunity to appreciate the lavish sonorities of the woodwind section, and the courtly Polacca was executed with finesse and exuberance.

The connections between Vivaldi and Telemann are scarce, and it seemed to be only the use of the Italian concerto model that qualified our second German to be included in the programme. Nevertheless, it is never a bad thing to hear the music of a composer who is somewhat neglected in the concert hall. Telemann’s Concerto for three oboes and three violins was a fine display of the ‘interplay, texture and conversation’ described in Andrew Mellor’s programme notes. The number of players was reduced for this concerto, which created a more relaxed musical arena, allowing the soloists to respond to each other with a charisma that was lacking in the Bach. The dynamic between the oboists and violinists in the final Allegro became a fetching visual spectacle.

It is hard to quantify what makes Vivaldi’s music so instantly recognisable. Egarr frequently mentioned the element of repetition so ubiquitous throughout Vivaldi’s music, and how he never fails to ‘fulfil our expectations’. Before hearing the Concerto in G minor ‘per l’orchestra di Dresda’ for the first time, I was expecting a sophisticated and theatrical display of musicality; of course, this was aptly fulfilled. The balance between the recorders (Rachel Brown, Rachel Beckett), and the bassoonist (Ursula Leveaux) was particularly splendid, as were moments when the theorbo (William Carter) could be heard through the sound. The concerto was written specifically for the Dresden court orchestra, which at the time comprised more than forty first-rate instrumentalists. Although the AAM’s ensemble was comparatively modest, they captured the intensity and vigour that must have been present during the concerto’s first performance.

The concerto itself has undergone dramatic changes over the last few centuries, and much of the programme showcased examples concerned more with textural nuance than the instrumental panache that we expect from the concerto today. Vivaldi’s Concerto for violin, two oboes and two horns in D major conforms to the latter notion, and was my highlight of the concert. Before the last eight bars of the concerto, the ensemble dropped out and left principal first violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk to execute an emotionally charged solo that displayed the technical dexterity and artistic exuberance so characteristic of Vivaldi’s oeuvre, while keeping an on-stage demeanour that was cool, relaxed and effortless.

Mellor’s notes mention how solos such as this were ‘a sure-fire crowd-pleaser in Venice’, and the reactions in Milton Hall were no different. As the audience cheered for more, it was lucky there was still Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.4 in G major left for Beznosiuk to display further virtuosity, this time staying more unified with his fellow musicians. Egarr regularly left his seat to shape the sound in front of us, and the way the double bass (Judith Evans) shaped the phrasing so boldly during the fugue brought something new to the sonic palette. More refined and urbane than the first, Bach’s fourth Brandenburg Concerto was a fantastic conclusion to the concert.

It was my first time seeing a live performance of the AAM, and it was easy to understand why the orchestra holds such an international reputation. The programme placed in context and brought to life a handpicked selection of music from a specific time period, while covering vast geographical distances. I left finding it difficult to resist an analogy between the Dresden orchestra and the AAM, between Pisendel and Beznosiuk.

The Academy of Ancient Music performed at Milton Court Concert Hall on 13th April 2016.