It gives me great pleasure to invite you to Bath Mozartfest 2024. This will be the 34th Mozartfest, which brings the finest national and international musicians to the beautiful city of Bath.
The Pavel Haas Quartet will open the festival with one of Mozart’s late Prussian Quartets, in a programme which also features music by Dvořák, from the group’s Czech homeland. Renowned ensembles are always at the heart of this festival and this year they include the peerless Takács Quartet, Bath favourites the Nash Ensemble and, making their debut at the festival, the brilliant French Modigliani String Quartet.
We are delighted to bring together mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Imogen Cooper for what promises to be a thrilling song recital including works by Schumann, Schubert and Mozart.
At the peak of a glittering career, the world-renowned pianist Sir András Schiff will reveal his programme from the stage on the night – although he has promised to play some Mozart!
Angela Hewitt will bring her particular form of pianistic brilliance with her new project, The Mozart Odyssey. This is a two-year project in which she is presenting all the composer’s concerti around the world playing with a number of outstanding orchestras. In Bath, she is joined by the London Mozart Players.
The Tallis Scholars, under the baton of Peter Phillips, will bring a different colour to the festival with a glorious concert of Renaissance music based on the works of musicians from the Sistine Chapel Choir.
Onyx Brass proved very popular at last year’s Bachfest and we are delighted that they are joining us once again. Other one-hour lunchtime concerts will feature a solo performance by pianist Alexei Grynyuk, the Amatis Trio, and outstanding violinist Stephen Waarts here playing with pianist Martin Klett.
Our two Saturday morning full-length 11am ‘coffee concerts’ will this year be given by Alban Gerhardt, cello, and Steven Osborne, piano; and on the second Saturday by the BBC New Generation Artists, the Leonkoro Quartet – one of the most exciting quartets of their generation, who appear with the equally outstanding clarinettist Annelien Van Wauwe.
The festival will draw to a close with the celebrated choral ensemble The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers. Their programme in Bath’s glorious Abbey will open with Mozart’s sublime Ave Verum Corpus, and then Haydn’s mighty Nelson Mass. A fittingly triumphant close to what promises to be nine days of glorious music-making, I hope you will join me there.
Amelia Freedman CBE, FRAM, Artistic Director