Edinburgh University’s Russell Collection is one of the world’s finest collections of early keyboard instruments. The second volume in John Kitchen’s ongoing project to bring its musical exhibits to life matches music by Handel, Purcell, the Scottish composer Robert Bremner and others including Mozart’s son Franz Xaver with a gloriously vigorous menagerie of spinets, virginals, chamber organs, clavichord and harpsichords.

This disc is intended to introduce a collection of keyboard instruments in Edinburgh, Scotland, but actually it accomplishes much more. The instruments featured here were built all over Europe, with the majority from the British Isles or France. They date from between 1586 and 1810, with the first example being an Italian virginal and the final one a fortepiano. Along the way come harpsichords of various kinds, a clavichord, and a small organ. Brief but relevant and engaging histories are given for each instrument.

John Kitchen - uniquely familiar with Edinburgh's internationally acclaimed collections of early keyboard instruments - turns his attention to the world's most famous harpsichord, the Taskin harpsichord. The reign of Louis XV was the period during which the harpsichord gained its greatest popularity in France, and this glorious 1769 instrument by Pascal Taskin would have been the preferred choice of any composer. Here its opulent lushness is captured in the ideal acoustics of Scotland's oldest concert hall, St Cecilia's Hall. The Hall is also home to the Raymond Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments, which houses the Taskin harpsichord. The combination of instrument, venue, programme and performer creates a unique listening experience.

John Kitchen continues his much-lauded series of recordings from the instruments of the world-famous Roger Mirrey collection of keyboard instruments. Recorded in St Cecilia's Hall, Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall, this programme is specifically designed to highlight the unique qualities of the 1755 double-manual harpsichord by Luigi Baillon. Built in Cyteux, Burgundy, it has a very different sound from Parisian instruments of the time; cleaner and brighter in tone, it is the perfect vehicle for Kitchen's subtly nuanced playing, which brings the sophistication of the period to new life.