I didn’t get the the Bath Opera spring production this year – The Merry Widow – as the Thursday night sold out (perhaps because the tickets were cheaper) and that was the only night I could go. So instead we bought separate tickets to hear Angela Hewitt at the Bachfest in St Mary’s Church (though we ended up sitting together after others in the audience had also moved around).
Angela Hewitt and her Fazioli are frequent visitors to Bath, although I’d not heard her play in St Mary’s Church before. Her programme was all Bach – the Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, Nos 5–12, and the Overture in the French Style BWV831. The latter work wasn’t familiar to me – it’s more of a suite than an overture. Needless to say it was all immaculately played – I was particularly impressed by the graduation of her dynamics. There was a large audience, including the usual coachload bussed in for the event.
Musically speaking, the day hadn’t really gone to plan as I’d been supposed to sing another evensong with Bath Abbey Chamber Choir in Wells Cathedral. But this was called off a couple of weeks beforehand because of filming in the Cathedral that day. So much for the special relationship between Bath Abbey and the Cathedral!