But that was only the window dressing. Many areas of Handel's output are still being rediscovered in modern times, usually with rigorous advocacy. His flute music, for example, is usually played by the demure Baroque flute, so much that Mimi Stillman's robust modern-flute sound, flawless intonation, and clarity of line felt like a shock in the Sonata in E minor - and quite a pleasant one. Handel's music doesn't always take well to transcription, as suggested by the chamber-group reduction of the aria "Oh Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion." Better that than not to hear it at all.

The heart of the concert was a particularly fine Willard Martin-made harpsichord whose beautifully focused sound wasn't clouded by "ping" or underlying rumbles from the instrument's mechanism, allowing seamless phrasing from Charles Abramovic in Handel's Suite in D minor. Mezzo soprano K. Rebecca Oehlers, often heard in choirs such as the Crossing, was on hand for Handel arias, including the cantata Mi Palpita il cor and the famous "Ombra Mai fu" from Serse, delivered with spellbinding emotional concentration. Her voice needs finishing - coloratura wasn't so clean - but lyrical passages were infused with great purpose, thanks to well-projected words and a rich, near-alto tone.

Part of the Handel story is how his music has come down to us - sometimes in spurious editions, such as the Cello Sonata in G minor, which is absent from authoritative Handel catalogs. It's a pleasing piece, though, as played by the Philadelphia Orchestra's Yumi Kendall, a highly distinctive solo artist with magnetically elegant phrasing and attractively judicious vibrato.

However, the concert's presentation was a sore point. The program incorrectly listed Abramovic as playing piano, and gave little documentation on the program. The evening ended with a Hallelujah Chorus sing-along that was destined to be haphazard, with a small-ish audience that had come there to listen rather than to sing. Some might say, "Oh, it's Philadelphia. What do you expect?" Answer: A lot.