The opening performance by this year’s resident festival ensemble is bookended by Bach’s great contemporary, Handel. Handel’s rarely heard oboe concerto, performed by Nicholas Daniel, follows Bach’s famous cantata ‘Ich habe genug’, sung by star countertenor Reginald Mobley, who received a standing ovation at the 2025 BBC Proms.
Programme
Handel Violin Sonata in D major HWV 371
Purcell Music for a While; O Solitude
J S Bach Ich habe genug BWV 82
Handel Oboe Concerto in C minor
Vivaldi Trio Sonata in C major RV 60
Handel Fammi combattere from Orlando
Bachfest Ensemble
Stephen Waarts violin
Tim Crawford violin
Noga Shaham viola
Adrian Brendel cello
Nicholas Daniel oboe
Sergio Bucheli lute
Xiaowen Shang keyboards
Reginald Mobley countertenor
About the Bachfest Ensemble
I’m excited to introduce the specially-formed Bachfest Ensemble that will perform several times during Bath Bachfest 2026, allowing an opportunity for the audience to develop a deeper relationship with these very fine musicians.
Violinists Stephen Waarts and Tim Crawford are memorable past visitors to Bath Mozartfest while also specialising in Bach’s music; the young Berlin-based violist Noga Shaham has made a fantastic impression at the start of her career and has played regularly this season with leading orchestras including Berliner Philharmoniker; Sergio Bucheli and Xiaowen Shang are both in great demand as continuo players and they recently appeared together in a Nash Ensemble concert at London’s Wigmore Hall. Oboist Nicholas Daniel needs little introduction as one of the UK’s finest musicians, and I will be providing a bass line for the group with great pleasure!
- Adrian Brendel, Artistic Director
