We managed to fit in several concerts in this years’s Bath Mozartfest. We began on the Sunday night with Anthony Marwood (violin) and Aleksandar Madžar (piano) in the Assembly Rooms. This was quite a popular concert, which opened with Schumann’s Op. 105 sonata (unknown to me) and continued with Mozart’s K526 and Beethoven’s Kreutzer. We found Marwood a little on the bland side, less so in the Schumann; the accompaniment had more colour. And the slow movement of the Kreutzer seemed rather rushed.
Confectionery enthusiasts noted the absence of piano bars on sale in the interval alongside Mozartkugeln, and the availability of tubs of Marshfield ice cream for those prepared to seek it out.
The following day my husband went to hear Leonard Elschenbroich (cello) and Wu Qian (piano) in a lunchtime programme of Schumann, Debussy and Beethoven. He has admired Wu Qian’s playing since hearing her in the Sitkovetsky piano trio and wasn’t disappointed this time. The concert got a good writeup in the Bath Chronicle.