{"id":727,"date":"2012-11-18T17:30:02","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T17:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=727"},"modified":"2012-11-18T17:41:57","modified_gmt":"2012-11-18T17:41:57","slug":"bath-mozartfest-2012-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=727","title":{"rendered":"Bath Mozartfest 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a02012 marks the 21st<\/sup> birthday of the Bath Mozartfest<\/span> which goes from strength to strength. One of the great benefits is of course the city itself. While we were there for the music, we were also able to visit the Thermae for the first time and indulge ourselves in the natural spa waters\u00a0of the outdoor roof-top pool, even in mid-November, which is at a constant 46\u00b0. We were also able to attend mid-week communion in the Abbey on Thursday morning, so all-in-all we did exactly as our Georgian forbears would have done in the 18th century \u2013\u00a0 a feast of fine food, fine company, and fine entertainment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

London Winds\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assembly Rooms 13 November<\/span><\/p>\n

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The acoustic in the Assembly Room appears to amplify the sound and bounce it back from the ceiling. For the London Winds this meant that the impact was loud and warm if not always totally transparent. They opened with Mozart\u2019s Serenade in C, a darkly brooding performance with an almost forced formality at times. Only the final variations brought any sense of daylight. By contrast Janacek\u2019s Youth<\/em> brought a playfulness and innocence which was both a relief and a delight. The single horn call at the start seemed to fill the hall with its brilliance and the Moderato<\/em> was humane and joyful.<\/p>\n

After the interval we heard an arrangement of three movements from Ravel\u2019s Le Tombeau de Couperin, <\/em>where the melancholic edge was offset by the dance rhythms.<\/p>\n

The anonymous arrangement of Beethoven\u2019s Seventh Symphony was the festival rarity and made for a fine conclusion to the evening. The opening movement was hard driven and hard edged in tone, with a fiercely metallic sound from the oboe and an answering stridency from the clarinet. At times it sounded more like Berlioz than Beethoven. The slow movement brought some fine bassoon solo work but the final Allegro con brio<\/em> seemed unnecessarily rushed. Just because a small ensemble can play faster does not always mean it is a benefit to do so. However, the arrangement brought us a new understanding of Beethoven\u2019s construction and the delicacy of his part writing, so was well worth hearing.<\/p>\n

London Haydn Quartet\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guildhall 14 November\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The following lunchtime at the Guildhall brought the London Haydn Quartet in works by Haydn and Dvorak. The Guildhall\u2019s acoustic is far crisper than the Assembly Room and allowed the most delicate of playing to be easily heard. They opened with Haydn\u2019s Op76 No1, with its Schubertian touches and sublime slow movement. Haydn\u2019s leaning towards romanticism here was well developed by the quartet and the Beethovenesque Menuetto <\/em>and the playfulness of the final movement were very attractive.<\/p>\n

Dvorak\u2019s Op51 is clearly a favourite of the quartet, and their delight in playing it was visible throughout. The opening movement allows the melodic lines to grow and develop organically, combining a tight structure with a more relaxed dance motif. The gentle if slightly soporific Romanza <\/em>proved a little too much for Catherine Manson, the lead violin, as she broke a string \u2013 ending the movement re-fingering the work across the remaining three. \u00a0While she was restringing, James Boyd was able to talk to us briefly about their use of gut strings. The sound is far better for these works, particularly in the Guildhall\u2019s acoustic, but the risk of breakage is all the higher. Safely restrung, the Finale <\/em>proved irresistible.<\/p>\n

Sitkovetsky Piano Trio\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assembly Rooms 14 November<\/span><\/p>\n

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My concerns about the relative acoustics of the two venues in Bath were born out that evening when we heard the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio in the Assembly Room. There was no doubting the exceptional quality of the playing, particularly in Beethoven\u2019s Archduke <\/em>Trio, but the quality of sound in the lower registers was noticeable by its lack of impact. Where the cello in the Guildhall was vibrant and firm all the way down, the cello here lacked impact in the lower octaves. Surprisingly the piano seemed to carry better though even that lacked some bass penetration.<\/p>\n

All of which was a pity for the young players were in excellent form, opening with Mozart\u2019s K548. Here the Andante cantabile <\/em>was particularly effective, preparing us for the romantic fury of Brahms\u2019 Op 101. The sudden richness of scoring and intensity of the sound was unexpected and all the more effective. The second movement brought little respite and only the lovely cantabile <\/em>lines from the pianist in the Andante grazioso<\/em> eased the mind. The final movement brings more tension though Brahms does allow us a slightly more optimistic conclusion.<\/p>\n

By contrast the Archduke <\/em>Trio was balm to the soul. The nobility and panache of the opening movement swept all before it until the final Allegro<\/em> brings youth and hope. On the way the Andante cantabile<\/em> seems so beautiful it is almost wasted on a Trio \u2013 if that is not heresy!<\/p>\n

Alasdair Beatson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guildhall 15 November<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pianist Alasdair Beatson is a late romantic at heart as his concert demonstrated in the Guildhall on Thursday lunchtime. Mozart\u2019s Variations on Gluck\u2019s Unser dummer Pobel meint<\/em> K455 may be somewhat tongue-in-cheek but the grandeur that Alasdair Beatson brings to the work convinces us throughout. His bold and often aggressive playing makes the Steinway work for its money and singing out into the Guildhall across its full range and dynamic.<\/p>\n

His approach to Schubert\u2019s Wanderer <\/em>Fantasy was equally dynamic, with its punchy bass chords and joyful exuberance. That the Adagio<\/em> seems to prefigure Liszt was all the more obvious in the light of the rest of the programme which was given over to the composer\u2019s arrangements of Schubert and Schumann.<\/p>\n

Du bist die Ruh<\/em> made a gentle contrast with the fire of the Wanderer <\/em>with its fine phrasing and pace. Gretchen am Spinnrade<\/em> was romantically forceful and filled out with Lisztian runs and ornamentation. Schumann\u2019s Widmung <\/em>brought the concert to a warmly, if somewhat sentimental, conclusion, but one that was loved by all.<\/p>\n

Alasdair Beatson was so enthusiastically received that an encore was inevitable, and we heard Faure\u2019s Dance Caprise<\/em>, its lighting shifting moods acting as a souffl\u00e9 after the Liszt.<\/p>\n

English Chamber Orchestra\u00a0 Assembly Rooms 15 November<\/span><\/p>\n

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The English Chamber Orchestra provided a popular but none the less welcome programme at the Assembly Room that evening, opening with Mendelssohn\u2019s String Symphony No 6. It is difficult to accept that a work of this complexity and style was composed by a twelve year old with no intention of publication, but such are the facts. Not only was the performance highly enjoyable but the precision the orchestra find without a conductor continues to impress.<\/p>\n

Two Mozart concerti followed. The orchestra\u2019s leader and director, Stephanie Gonley, gave us a meaty reading of the violin concerto No4, with a series of stylish cadenzas. Richard Watkins was the accomplished soloist in the 4th<\/sup> Horn Concerto. Again the acoustic was somewhat strange. The sound from the soloist was never in doubt but appeared to be coming from the upper left cornice about ten foot above his head, and divorced from the string sound which was so obviously surrounding him. Given that most modern PA systems go out of their way to ensure that any amplification does not over-ride the apparent source of the sound, it is odd that a natural acoustic does just that!<\/p>\n

No such problem with the final work, Dvorak\u2019s Serenade for Strings. This masterpiece seemed the best suited to the Room and we were able to wallow in Dvorak\u2019s intense romanticism. The five movements flowed with a simple inevitability to the point where the return of the opening melody almost demands that we hear the whole work over again. The quality of the ensemble playing was faultless and the balance never in doubt. A wonderful way to end our visit. BH<\/p>\n

If you have yet to discover the delights of Bath outside the \u2018normal\u2019 season, and at a time of far fewer daily tourists, the next big musical event is the Bath Bachfest which runs from 21-23 February 2013. www.bathbachfest.org.uk<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a02012 marks the 21st birthday of the Bath Mozartfest which goes from strength to strength. One of the great benefits is of course the city itself. While we were there for the music, we were also able to visit the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}