Classical Preview: Red Priest change the face of 18th-century music

Whichever it is, you don't want to miss tomorrow night's concert in Sheffield's Upper Chapel.

Grabbing music by the scruff of the neck and shaking off the dusty

old image, Red Priest are delivering a commercial presentation that is

radically changing the face of 18th-century music and bringing into the concert hall a new and younger audience.

It is a case of "no holds barred" as they wipe away the stuffiness that has held sway for centuries, their world tour concerts sold out weeks in advance.

Yet take away the coloured hair, outlandish dress, dramatic presentation, and you find four gifted and virtuoso musicians.

With the front-man, Piers Adams, serving up the most audacious brilliance on recorders of various ilks, the group offer their own arrangements for a line-up of recorder, violin, cello and harpsichord.

Now touring following their chart-topping album, Johann, I'm Only Dancing, they present their version of music by Bach that has drawn rave reviews from the music media.

Playing tracks from that disc, including the famous Toccata and Fugue and the Third Brandenburg Concerto, this is Bach as you have never heard it before.

Earlier in the day, they offer bite-sized pieces of Vivaldi, Bach and many similar composers in Putting the Rock into the Baroque, an hour aimed at parents with their children aged 8-14.

Red Priest, Upper Chapel, Sheffield, Mar 13, 2pm & 7.45pm. 0114 249 6000.