Founded in 1985 by Giovanni Antonini (recorder), Paolo Beschi (cello) and Lorenzo Ghielmi (harpsichord) and quickly joined by Luca Pianca (lute) and Enrico Onofri (violin), Il Giardino Armonico specialise in playing period instruments and performing works from the 17th and 18th centuries.

But if you now have a mental image of elderly musicians in frock coats and powdered wigs droning out harpsichord music, think again, for this is the stuff of Grammy Awards. Specialising for many years in the works of Vivaldi and particularly The Four Seasons, their 1999 acclaimed Vivaldi Album featuring Cecilia Bartoli picked up the Grammy. The award joined a sideboard already groaning under the weight of other accolades including the Diapason d’Or, the ‘Fondazione Cini’ in Venice, Caecilia Award in Belgium, the Choc de la Musique and the Grand Prix des Discophiles.

Performing at Austria’s Salzburg Pfingstens Festival in the summer, IL Giardino Armonico are taking some Lanzarote sun as part of the XXVIII Festival de Música de Canarias at the Santo Domingo Convent in Teguise on Tuesday 24th January at 9pm. Tickets are €15 and available from Teguise Town Hall.

Amongst their repertoire, the latter day Chamber musicians will be performing works by Telemann, Handel, Fontana and naturally, Vivaldi.

Just a short bus or taxi ride from Sands Beach Resort, why not make a day of it by enjoying the sights and lunch in the beautiful former capital of Lanzarote before taking in the music that bridges five centuries.