Forget Pirates of Penzance or Pirates of the Caribbean – now we have Pirates of the Baroque, and they’re as swashbuckling a bunch of seafarers as you could hope to find. Baroque music may not be something anyone would normally associate with piracy, but early music group Red Priest – named after the red-headed baroque king, Antonio Vivaldi – has put together a programme of music that is linked both to the sea and to musical piracy. They will be bringing it to Oxford next week, in what could well be the only baroque concert in which the players are dressed in pirate costumes. Their new CD gives a mouth-watering taste of what’s to come.

Red Priest’s fourth release is an ingenious mix of music from composers who, the sleeve notes claim, were the musical pirates of their day, “pioneers and adventurers, riding the seas of change with wild abandon”. This was an era when rearranging, borrowing and stealing the ideas of other composers was rife, and some of the results are here on this CD. Music by Albinoni, Couperin, Tartini and Vivaldi, among others, is served up in a fun, lively and dramatic style, with such a full-bodied sound that it frequently sounds as though there are more than just four players. But it’s not all swashbuckling exuberance; there is sensitivity here, too, and impeccable musicianship throughout.

Red Priest features former Oxford resident Piers Adams (recorders), Julia Bishop (violin), Angela East (cello) and Howard Beach (harpsichord).

They will be presenting ‘Pirates of the Baroque’ at the Sheldonian Theatre on Tuesday. Box office: 01865 305305. Their CD is on special offer at Blackwell’s Music Shop, Broad Street, Oxford, throughout February and March.

For more information about Red Priest, including details of previous recordings, visit www.redpriest.com