(Reviewed on 13 June, 2026)

What better way to wile away a winter’s hour than to feast on the music of spring? Even if one might sometimes wish for less warmth, more fire, in this program of Italian Baroque monodies, ground basses and chamber music, the proof is in the pudding. And what fine fare it is.

HIP Company Artistic Director, soprano and arranger Bonny de la Hunty’s printed menu and excellent digital program note whet our appetites. As does Victoria Hall’s small stage, which elegantly evokes an Italian garden setting replete with bottles of wine on tables and roses whose colour complement that of the harpsichord. From an aperitivo through primo and secondo piatti to dolce, here is an al fresco song by Frescobaldi followed by instrumental solos showcasing the theorbo (Piccinini), violin (Corelli), and harpsichord (Poglietti).

The main fare comprises Seconda pratica treasures by Caccini father and daughter, a trio sonata by Biagio Marini – incidentally, a fine madrigalist – and songs by Kapsberger and Falconieri, as well as a tarantella by the enigmatic Athanasius Kircher and a bergamasca by Uccellini.

Finally, we are served a delicious, witty mashup ciaccona for dolce: two songs from Monteverdi’s Scherzi Musicali fused with a capriccio by Maurizio Cazzati.

Read the full review at Limelight.