When Purcell wrote the song Britain, Thou Now Art Great, the country was still grappling with the divine right of kings and a novel two-party system was beginning to emerge in Parliament.

It was a bittersweet opener for Belgian counterternor Steve Dugardin’s recital on the eve of this election, and one that was not best matched to his range. However, Dugardin’s voice, one of a rich muscular breadth, literally blew away the idea that the countertenor sound is all sexless and ethereal, and responded much more comfortably to the more operatic demands of Vivaldi’s Perfidissimo cor!, delivered here with great dramatic verve, accompanied by an ensemble of harpsichord, cello and lute.

Less is often more in baroque music, and it was in a series of French songs scored sparely for voice and lute that Dugardin was able to deliver the lightness of touch that was the hallmark of the period.

A solo suite for baroque gitare, played by Jurgen De Bruyn, brought the evening towards its close with a tenderness and charm which sat perfectly in the elegant St George’s.