I made a detour to hear the Britten Sinfonia at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Viennese repertoire. Bath itself has a lack of concert halls that are a natural size for a small orchestra – the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall can only accomodate chamber concerts, the Abbey has awkward sightlines and acoustic and is rather cramped for the performers, at the Forum the audience feels miles away and the Michael Tippett Centre is some way out of town.
The programme began with Schubert’s German Dances as arranged by Webern. I find these really rather poignant pieces, since they represent both the world Webern arose from and the one which rejected his own compositions. And while they don’t rank very high in the list of Schubert’s compositions, their melodies are lodged in my memory from previous hearings.
Webern’s 5 movements Op. 5 followed, a real test for the orchestra’s being unconducted but it came off. The performance was discreetly directed by the leader, who however, remained uncredited although she got a bouquet at the end (I learnt later that she’s Jacqueline Shave).
After the interval, Roderick Williams sang a selection of Schubert songs arranged by Webern. These arrangements, though attractive, are less interesting than the dance arrangements which we heard in the first half, and were made while he was still a student.
Mahlers Rückertlieder sounded light and fresh, though I did miss Um Mitternacht which is the greatest of them in my opinion. And the programme ended with the second performance of Schubert’s 5th that I’ve heard in three weeks! (rather faster than the other one)
I had a look for the oboist I used to know in the Sinfonia but I think she must have sent a dep to this concert. I am a ‘friend’ of the orchestra on Facebook although they don’t seem to update very much with their forthcoming concerts, which is a pity.