Usually when you hear JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in concert you get one, maybe two if you’re lucky, and not many ensembles are game enough to take on all six in one sitting.

But when Madeleine Easton and her excellent Bach Akademie Australia band arrives at the ACO headquarters in the shadow of Sydney Harbour Bridge, she brings the box set with her for a rare evening binge session.

Over two hours, with a 20-minute interval, she and her 22 musicians in various combinations put on a marathon display of virtuosity, stamina and joyful playing that offers plenty of insights into these much-loved works.

Bach Akademie Australia: Brandenburg Concertos. Photo © Keith Saunders

Played in numerical order, Sydney’s stormy weather poses a couple of minor tuning problems to the gut strings in the opening moments of No. 1, but the joyful Allegro soon kicks in with all its foot-tapping glory.

The twin natural horns of Michael Hugh Dixon and Jenny McCleod-Sneyd joust happily with the trio of oboes led by Adam Masters while Ben Hoadley’s bassoon, Daniel Yeadon’s cello and Pippa MacMillan’s violone...