The Bath Festival 2019* rather passed me by, though I made the usual excursion to the opening-night gig in Green Park Station. But we did get some free tickets (courtesy of a member of Bath Cantata Group) to a midday piano recital given by Isata Kanneh-Mason in St Swithin’s Church.
She played a sonata by Clara Schumann, which if I hadn’t known I would have thought could have an early work by a better-known composer (I might have said Mendelssohn, except that I’m not sure there’s such a thing as immature Mendelssohn). Clara Schumann never finished it and dynamic markings are missing from some parts, so perhaps she was not satisfied with it.
This was followed not by the advertised Chopin Nocturnes but by the complete set of 24 Preludes. These were taken briskly and mostly accurately. She is finishing her studies in London (I caught an interview recently on Radio 3) and it would be interesting to hear her perform them again in a few years’ time.
There was a large audience although it doesn’t take so many to fill the downstairs part of the church. I have heard a number of people say that they didn’t feel there was much in the Festival for them this year. If I’m to go to Saturday morning concerts in the Assembly Rooms (I feel this is a very civilised time to have a concert) it will have to be at the Mozartfest, as that slot has now been given over to book signings. To judge by the brochure, these predominated over concerts. Of course they can be much cheaper to put on; shorter, with only one or two people on stage, who (presumably) don’t need as much time beforehand at the venue to prepare.
(*It is now the Bath Festival not the Bath International Music Festival. It’s not just music as it has merged with the LitFest, but it is a shame to scale back the geographical range of the performers.)