London Handel Players celebrates its 25th anniversary with two Wigmore Hall showcase concerts. The period-instrument ensemble offers thrilling programmes of chamber and theatre works that recall the international nature of music made in Handel’s day and contemporary London’s insatiable appetite for new compositions.Handel’s music to The Alchemist, assembled for a revival of Ben Jonson’s eponymous play, introduced the composer to London audiences.

For its second concert, London Handel Players uses it to investigate the influences on the composer’s style: from his friend Corelli in Italy, his French contemporary, Rebel, his great English predecessor, Purcell, the flautist he would have loved to have had to collaborate with in London, Quantz, and his close friend, Telemann, who is represented by one of his more humorous works which features the unique combination of piccolo, chalumeau, oboe and strings including two obbligato double basses!