February Music In Wimbledon

I’ve always felt that for a composer to be called ‘great’ he or she must have a unique musical voice.

By this criterion alone (and there are so many others) the extraordinary Moravian Leos Janacek is certainly great - not a bar could be by anyone else. His operas and most of his other masterpieces were written, miraculously, when he was over 60, undoubtedly inspired by the affection of a much younger woman; he was a mere 50 when he wrote his touching and tantalisingly brief piano sonata, but a masterpiece it surely is.

Distinguished pianist Robert Bridge gives it a rare outing at the Colour House Theatre in February. It’s followed by a more familiar master, Brahms, but in the less familiar lyrical manner of his old age. Gone are the huge scale and the rich textures of the great concertos, sonatas and virtuoso variations, in these exquisitely touching, Opus 118 and 119 pieces. By way of dessert Robert gives us another rarity, but this time a dazzling technical showpiece. Hands up, those who have ever heard Balakirev’s Fantasia on themes from Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar? Scheduled for Sunday 26 February at 7.30pm, it’ll be an evening both mouth-watering and hair-raising (www.mertonabbeymusic.com).

More wonderful and seldom played music can be heard from 7.30pm on Saturday 11 February, at Christ Church, West Wimbledon when the Jigsaw Players play one of Dvorak’s finest chamber pieces, the Terzetto, for the unusual combination of two violins and viola. It’s an aperitif to Beethoven’s early Septet for wind and strings, which these days you could describe as a comparative rarity, too, though in its day it was by far the composer’s most popular work - yes, even more than the great symphonies and concertos! A counter-intuitive thought, indeed, until you reflect that at that time orchestral concerts were the exception and for the few; most people with a mind for music would make it themselves, at home - and the brilliantly attractive Septet was just the ticket. How times have changed (www.jigsawplayers.com)!