Ever heard of Evaristo Felice dall'Abaco? I certainly hadn't, but he composed some mean orchestral pieces, if his Concerto a pi instrumenti is anything to go by. Written around 1715, the concerto received a delightfully cheerful performance from the Orchestra of Stowe Opera, under their conductor Robert Secret. Cheerful, too, was Tartini's Cello concerto in A major except for its striking Larghetto movement. This was given a memorably yearning, and wistful interpretation by soloist Polly Ballard.

These orchestral pieces were framed by two choral masterpieces by Vivaldi, his Gloria and Dixit Dominus. Conductor Secret never shies away from a challenge, and he certainly didn't do so here. But were the two works a challenge too far for the Oxford Harmonic Society? For whether it was the decidedly warm evening, or worries about difficulties in the music, it is sad to report that this concert did not show the choir at its confident best.

The opening Gloria in excelsis Deo should have pinned me to the back wall of the Sheldonian (I was sitting in the back row), but it never quite did so. After a shaky start, however, the following et in terra pax produced a warm, glowing tone, as did Qui tollis peccata. The two soloists, Rebekah Coffey and Sophia Grech, have made their mark with Robert Secret in past performances at Stowe Opera, and both made notable contributions here. Coffey produced a memorable account of Domine Deus in the Gloria, as did Grech with Tecum principium in the Dixit Dominus. Both arias benefited from notable imstrumental solos naughtily, the members of the always feather-light Stowe orchestra were not named in the programme. Dixit Dominus found the choir in more confident form, and if several faces registered relief at having got to the end, there was also evident pleasure at having tackled these vibrant Vivaldi scores.