ONE of the reasons that Adrian Brendel has slipped so seamlessly into the charismatic shoes of the late Amelia Freedman as artistic director of Bath’s Mozart and Bach Fests, is that he, as he pointed out when introducing The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra’s splendid closing concert in the Abbey, he is fully aware what a hard act she is to follow.

Nothing but the best will do, and guided by the calm and experienced hand of Harry Christophers, with guest mezzo-soprano Heather Lowe adding that extra nuance to the music of Gluck and JS Bach, the packed Abbey audience sat enthralled, enjoying springtime music on a miserable, damp February evening.

It was all very different from George Jeffreys and the Birth of English Baroque, a fascinating mixture that combined music by Purcell, Lawes and Byrd and opened the seven concert festival four days before at St Mary’s Bathwick. This venue, with its distinct atmosphere, was also to play host to the first of Adrian Brendel’s newly formed Bachfest Ensemble, producing a programme of Purcell, Handel, Vivaldi and JS Bach that was as distinctive as the venue.

Three of the ensembles’ members, cellist Adrian Brendel, violinist Tim Crawford, and violist Noga Shaham, then volunteered for the night shift, 90 minutes from 9pm playing JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations, at St Mary’s, before rising early, ready for an 11.30 morning performance with join violinist Stephen Waarts, lutenist Sergio Bucheli and Xiaowen Shang, at the harpsichord, to delight a Guildhall audience with a programme of Handel, Rameau, Couperin Telemann and Corelli.

The idea of giving audiences the widest choices of concert times had already been established in the Guildhall, with pianist Anton Mejias showing no artistic temperament when he had to pause in his excerpts from Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well Tempered Clavier, while the source of an irritating whistle was discovered. He played from 1pm to 2pm and violinist Stephen Waarts filled the hour between 4pm and 5pm, with his delicate playing of Nicola Matteis Jr, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain and JS Bach.

In content and timing the seven concerts Adrian Brendel assembled maintained the high standard we expect from Bath’s Bach and Mozart fest, bringing musical sunshine to audiences longing for spring to arrive.

Gerry Parker