Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Bach – Suite No 1 in C. Vivaldi – Concerto da Camera in F RV97.

Rameau – Les Indes Galantes Suite.

Bach has been the big figure in the Irish Baroque Orchestra’s programming in recent years. And he’s to the fore again in this year’s Masterworks series, which sees the orchestra in action in four, one-hour concerts at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral.

Each programme features one of Bach’s four orchestral suites, coupled with suites of an entirely different hue by Rameau, and a selection of works by Vivaldi. At Tuesday’s opening concert, the ploy worked a treat.

A lot of the success had to do with the senses, pure and simple. The tang of the 18th-century oboes in the Bach suite, and the energetically earthy chugging of the period bassoon are an especial delight in a city that still hears such sounds all too rarely. And the orchestra’s artistic director, Monica Huggett, drove the Bach with a real sense of relish.

Vivaldi’s Concerto da camera in F, RV97, featured a soloist on viola d’amore, a hybrid instrument that blends aspects of the violin and viol family, and has an extra set of sympathetic strings, that vibrate freely when it is played. The tone is silvery, and much lighter than a modern viola.

Tuesday’s concerto was one of those works by Vivaldi that is not particularly distinguished in its material or thematic working. But the IBO’s performance more than made up for that by fully indulging in the colour of the instrumentation, with rasping horns, a leaping bassoon, and soft-toned oboes (their bells stuffed to mute the tone) that often effectively stole the show from the nimble soloist, Huw Daniel.

The third composer in the current Masterworks series, Rameau, gets a pretty raw deal by comparison with Bach and Vivaldi. I wouldn’t be surprised if this particular series is actually the first ever in Ireland to offer four programmes in a row containing pieces by the French master.

The suite from his 1734 opéra-ballet, Les Indes Galantes, showed both his strengths and weaknesses. The musical invention is striking, and the instrumentation is fresh. But the music is perhaps a little short-breathed for modern taste, a sequence of delightful hors d'oeuvres that somehow leaves you wanting something rather bigger to bite into.

Series continues on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday