Rejoice! by Clarke, Jeremiah, Händel, Corelli, A., Torelli, Giuseppe, Purcell, Bach, J. S., Alkaen (2019/2019), Milton Court Concert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Rejoice greatly in an evening of music to stir the soul and lift the spirits. Celebrate with some of baroque’s musical masters heard here at their most irrepressibly joyful and effervescent. Rising young soprano Rowan Pierce, an AAM favourite, joins the orchestra for two sacred cantatas. Only rediscovered in 2001, Handel’s sparkling Gloria has already established itself as one of the great coloratura cantatas, showcasing the soprano voice in a sequence of dazzling, virtuosic movements. Overflowing with jubilant energy, Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen pairs a solo soprano and trumpet in music that sets them in exuberant competition. Pierce is joined by the AAM’s principal trumpeter David Blackadder, who is also the soloist for Torello’s high-spirited Concerto in D major. With the programme also including the thrilling Let the Bright Seraphim from Handel’s Samson and Clarke’s ever-popular Trumpet Tune, this is a concert that promises to send you home with a smile on your face and a spring in your step.