This came and went last week. I imagine it was financially a great success because many of the concerts sold out. In fact the piano recital by Alfred Brendel sold out as soon as postal booking opened, if not before (we posted an application in good time but didn’t get tickets). Perhaps people are worried he will retire from the platform soon and it’s their last chance to hear him.
Between us we attended three concerts. I went to the Nash Ensemble performing the Kegelstatt trio (a work I used to bash through with friends in my student days), the K593 string quintet, and Brahms’ clarinet quintet, which is where the evening really came alight for me. Other members of the family heard Tasmin Little and John Lenehan, and members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, all warmly received. But with hundreds of (often elderly) people trooping into concerts in the Assembly Rooms in a short space of time, couldn’t the heavy swinging front doors be fixed open for the half-hour or so before a concert? As they would be at (say) the Wigmore Hall. There wasn’t so much heat to keep in, as the weather was mild all week.
I would usually post a link to a review in a national paper here but I don’t think any of them sent reviewers to the Mozartfest this year (did they feel they’d reviewed enough performances of Mozart in the anniversary year?)