Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are the most celebrated 18th-century concertos featuring unorthodox combinations of solo instruments. But they have nothing on the lines of some of the seven, mostly even earlier works collected here.
Telemann offers mandolin teamed up with hammered dulcimer and harp, or two flutes with calchedon, type of long-necked lute. These make some of the other line-ups – multiple oboes and violins, or a trio of horns with violin, or trumpets, timpani and oboes – seem almost conventional by comparison.
The style of the music is as all-embracing as the instrumental choices, and the period instrument players of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin thrive on the challenges.
