There was the usual attractive programme for the 2010 Bath Mozartfest, and between us we went to three concerts. First up was the Belcea Quartet with Julian Rachlin on viola, for which we bought what must have been the last pair of tickets. Mozart’s string quintet in G minor K516 came off best, especially in the delicate quiet passages. After the interval was the Grosse Fuge which somehow didn’t quite gel. The final piece on the programme was Brahms’ String Quintet No 2 in G major Op. 111, a work which was quite unfamiliar to me. I was in general happy with the performance, though here and in the Mozart I sometimes felt the sound was bottom-heavy. (Maybe this was due to my position near the back of the Assembly Rooms).
Later in the Festival others in the family went to hear the Jerusalem Quartet play Mozart’s early C major quartet K157, Mendelssohn’s quartet in E minor Op. 44 no. 2 and Brahms’ Quartet Op. 51 no. 1. These performances were reported as satisfactory, though they would have benefited from more variety in tempo and dynamics.