Simply Baroque

Manchester Baroque are playing Simply Baroque at Hallé St Peter's on Saturday 29 May 2027, from 19:30 to 21:45. It's part of their 2026-27 season, and the programme brings together three of the big names of the era: Bach, Telemann and Purcell.

Bach's fourth Brandenburg concerto opens the night, with artistic director Pauline Nobes on solo violin. Then there's Telemann's Double Concerto for Recorder and Flute, played by Michael Niesemann and Martyn Shaw, followed by his Trumpet Sinfonia with Robert Vanryne. The evening rounds off with music from Purcell's King Arthur.

For those who don't know them, Manchester Baroque is a professional early-music ensemble based right here in the city. They specialise in music written roughly between 1600 and 1750, and they play it on period instruments—the kind of instruments that would have been used at the time. Those instruments sound softer and are tuned to a different pitch than the modern ones you'll hear in a typical orchestra, so it's a distinct sound from what you might expect. They describe their approach as playing in the style they believe the music would have been heard in back then.

One thing that sets this apart from a standard classical concert is that the performers talk about the pieces during the evening, so you get a bit of context as you go rather than just sitting in silence. It's a good way to follow the programme if you're not already well-versed in the repertoire. The concert runs from 19:30 to 21:45 at Hallé St Peter's, 40 Blossom Street, Manchester M4 6BF.