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The honeyed tone of the small complement of continuo instruments as the competing mothers approached Solomon was just one example of the care taken with details.

He also learned the organ and the harpsichord so he could play continuo.

There’s elasticity in the way the ensemble’s sound expands and contracts, reacting to fluctuations in the intensity of the characters’ feelings and enlivening music built predominantly from strings and continuo.

Even with a jazz quartet in the pit alongside the orchestra — Blanchard’s answer to a Baroque continuo — there’s little classic swing in the mix.

Scored for five voices, five unspecified instrumental parts and basso continuo, the music is reverent and wistful.