Musick for a while

Manchester Baroque open their new season at Hallé St Peter's on Saturday 31 October, with a programme that pairs Baroque concertos by Vivaldi, Handel and Bach with a selection of vocal pieces. It's led from the violin by the ensemble's artistic director, Dr Pauline Nobes, and the vocal side features countertenor Francis Bamford, including Henry Purcell's Music for a While. There's also a Telemann viola concerto that puts the viola at the fore, with Alex Mitchell on the instrument. Joel Raymond joins in on oboe.

For a bit of context, Manchester Baroque is a professional early-music ensemble based here in the city. They play music written roughly between 1600 and 1750 on period instruments, in a style they believe reflects how the works sounded at the time. This concert is the season opener, so it's the first of their scheduled dates for the year. Beside their regular concerts, they run a long-term project called Musick in Manchester 1744/45, which reconstructs the city's first subscription concert series from Dr Nobes' own research.

On the night, the ensemble is led by Pauline Nobes on violin, with countertenor Francis Bamford taking the vocal parts, Alex Mitchell on viola and Joel Raymond on oboe. The programme mixes the instrumental and the vocal, with the Vivaldi, Handel and Bach concertos sitting alongside the songs, Purcell's Music for a While among them. The Telemann concerto gives the viola its own moment in the spotlight. It's a professional early-music set played on period instruments, so you'll hear the Baroque repertoire as they intend it to sound.

The concert is on Saturday 31 October from 19:30 to 21:45 at Hallé St Peter's, 40 Blossom Street, Manchester M4 6BF. It's the first date of their new season.