The influencers selected are 12 composers from Europe and England writing for court, church and theatre, whose clout has long outlived their time and extended beyond their place. And this was before social media.

The ensemble performs a collection of short Baroque pieces and excerpts from popular composers and a few unfamiliar ones, ranging from Monteverdi, born in the mid-16th century, to Charles Avison, born in the very early 18th century.

Andrew O’Connor and Salut! Baroque. Photo © Philippa Horn

Alternating with instrumental pieces, bass-baritone Andrew O’Connor brings a swag of bass arias to the stage. Singing in Italian, Latin, German, French and English, his voice is well suited to Baroque style. Rich and weighty in the lower register, his upper register is vibrant with a sure beauty of tone. He projects calm contentment in the plangent lyricism of J. S. Bach’s aria Ich habe genug from the self-titled Cantata BWV 82 in a sinuous duet with the Baroque oboe played by Jane Downer.

O’Connor is wrathful in Polyphemus’ recitative I rage, I melt, I burn, deftly moving into the aria O ruddier than the cherry from Handel’s Acis and Galatea in a...