Salut! Baroque, under its joint Artistic Directors recorderist Sally Melhuish and cellist Tim Blomfield, has been delighting Sydney and Canberra early music enthusiasts for 30 years with its concerts featuring diverse and often obscure works from various centuries and countries.

This latest musical degustation took in some fiery tapas with works by two 18th century Spaniards; some sumptuous French fare from the time of Louis Quinze; a dollop of spicy goulash, alongside tasty dishes from Germany and Britain. It started in the present day with a mock Baroque charmer by Soft Machine founder Sir Karl Jenkins, and ended with Professor Teddy Bor’s charming and ingenious spoof on JS Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.

The historically informed instruments – Baroque violins, viola, cello piccolo, bass violin, double bass, guitar, theorbo and harpsichord – entered a time warp when percussionist Jack Peggie added brushes and snare drum to the Bach as Bor’s arrangement of the pared down movements deftly wove popular tunes like Ain’t She Sweet and Glen Miller’s In The Mood into the Bachian fabric, prompting a loud ovation from the Conservatorium audience.

Salut! Baroque. Photo supplied