Britten Sinfonia – Coffee Concert

Braving the snow and ice was a small price to pay for the privilege of hearing a beautifully executed programme of challenging and unfamiliar pieces of music from the likes of Poulenc, Gerald Barry and Walton. The overarching theme of the concert was madness, exemplified by the opening and closing songs: Tom O’Bedlam’s Song by Richard Rodney Bennett, given just the right amount of anguish and insanity by tenor Mark Padmore, accompanied by Caroline Dearnley on cello, and Britten’s Canticle III, ‘Still Falls the Rain’, again with Padmore in fine form and receiving sterling support from Richard Watkins on horn and Huw Watkins on piano. Walking out into a blizzard afterwards seemed the perfect end to a chilly but affecting recital.

The Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, 20 January 2012

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