Sydney’s cold snap may have kept numbers down a tad on the customary full houses, but Australian Brandenburg Orchestra regulars certainly got their money’s worth when the band’s latest tour, Baroque Unleashed, opened at the City Recital Hall.

The program featured soloists from within the orchestra and if you were to compile a playlist of Baroque favourites many of these works would be on it, starting with the fourth of Arcangelo Corelli’s 12 ground-breaking concerti grossi.

The portentous chords of the opening Adagio made way for the crisp and jubilant Allegro, with Concertmaster Shaun Lee-Chen and Principal Second Violin Ben Dollman duelling before the sighing figures of the Largo underpinned by the theorbos of Tommie Anderson and Nicholas Pollock.

There was an airy and attractive spring to the first part of the final movement before its dramatic ending.

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra: Baroque Unleashed. Photo © Keith Saunders

The first soloist of the night was Adam Masters, who gave a superb performance of Albinoni’s much-loved Concerto for oboe in D minor Op. 9 No. 2. It’s best known, of course, for its heart-melting Adagio – a sweet moment for the instrument matched only by...