WE COULD have quite a trivia game about these three composers.

What’s common between them? (All born in 1685.) Who is the odd one out? (Scarlatti – and we’re talking Giuseppe Domenico, not his dad, Alessandro – born in Italy, the others in Germany.) Who emigrated to England? (Handel, in 1712.) Did they know each other? (Scarlatti and Handel did, but Bach never met either Handel or Scarlatti.)

But they did meet, albeit a few centuries too late, in this concert. And there certainly was nothing trivial about it. Indeed, some of the works were given a treatment that raised them to a new level – a level which surely would have pleased these three composers, some of the greatest in the Baroque period.

It almost could be considered a variety concert with multiple players and instruments, spread from one end of the Fitters’ to the other.

Neal Peres Da Costa began proceedings at a double-manual harpsichord, playing Bach’s “Italian Concerto”, providing a neat link between the two countries represented. He was featured later in the program, too. I’ve heard Da Costa play before, that time on a fortepiano, and once again I found some uneven runs and erratic tempi lost some of the clarity in his playing.

A couple of program ring-ins were two concert studies played on the guitar by their Spanish composer, José Maria Gallardo de Rey – one “To J.S. Bach” and the other “To C.P.E. Bach”. They were delightful works, particularly notable for their less-than-subtle flamenco suggestions throughout.

In a piece of programming brilliance, Wesleyan scholar, the 15 year-old Jonathan Lee acquitted himself admirably in a performance of a Chaconne by Handel, playing a rather curious but pleasant-sounding chamber organ, which seemed to have in-built pipework.

Soprano, Anna Fraser, with organ accompaniment, sang Handel’s “Hallelujah!”. Her vibrato-free voice gave a beautifully clear rendition, very much in the Baroque style.

Taking the “variety” concert almost to the extreme was James Crabb, playing Scarlatti sonatas on the accordion! His finger work, especially in the left hand was something else to see and he shows wonderful control of his instrument creating light and shade the likes of which I reckon Scarlatti would never have imagined.

And if that wasn’t enough, oud maestro, Joseph Tawadros, wowed the (yet another) capacity audience with more Scarlatti sonatas, including a quite lengthy and very classy improvised opening.

There was more besides, but to conclude the concert Tawadros, Crabb and Gallardo del Rey collaborated for an extraordinary “Improvisation on Scarlatti” in which the lead rotated back and forth with the others following and filling expertly all the way through.

It was so good the audience demanded and got an encore of another improvisation in the truest sense, such that Tawadros even asked the audience to suggest the key for it. In the end they chose D and played a quiet, reflective and modern make-it-up-on-the-spot piece that brought the whole meeting to a very satisfying conclusion.