Lively and sublime all-French concert by Red Dot Baroque

The Tastes Reunited comes from the French phrase Les Gouts-reunis coined by Baroque composer Francois Couperin, referring to a glorious unification of Italian virtuosity and dramatics with French elegance and restraint in musical performance.

- Chang Tou Liang

That was the basis of an enlightening and entertaining all-French programme by period instrument group Red Dot Baroque (RDB), ensemble-in-residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, led by its founder-leader Alan Choo.

There is no story more melodramatic than the infamous demise of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who led his musicians by stomping a wooden staff on the ground. That was until his foot got in the way, with septic gangrene being the cause of his death.

Percussionist Derek Koh did the honours for Lully's rousing March For A Turkish Ceremony, which opened the evening, but he was far more careful.

Michel Corrette's Concerto Comique No. 25 In G Minor, based on earlier music, was a happy marriage of tradition and innovation. Choo's improvisatory flourishes on violin were let loose in Les Sauvages (The Savages), originally a harpsichord piece by Jean-Philippe Rameau.