I am eagerly looking forward to November and the fourteen concerts - one more than last year - in which some of the world’s most distinguished artists will be presenting their interpretations of great masterworks, not only by Mozart, but also by his predecessors, contemporaries and successors.

Once again, with the help of the A. M. Purnell Charitable Trust, we have been able to bring together an outstanding team of players, ranging from the almost legendary Camerata Salzburg, the acclaimed Vienna String Sextet, those stunningly virtuosic players London Winds, the award-winning Nash Ensemble, the Quatuor Mosaïques, one of today’s premier chamber music groups, to the very much up-and-coming Kungsbacka Piano Trio, named after the town in which they gave their first performance in 1997. Soloists include Melvyn Tan, making what is nowadays a rare appearance on the fortepiano, Tasmin Little, regarded as one of the world’s leading violinists, Wolfgang Holzmair with his regular partner Imogen Cooper, and Dame Gillian Weir giving a lunchtime recital on the Bath Abbey organ which should not be missed.

In ten days of music-making in which every programme is a special event, Mozart is as always the key figure, with examples of his symphonies and serenades as well as his chamber and keyboard music. Of course, other composers are well represented, with great works by stalwarts of the classical tradition such as Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Haydn, whose beautiful and invigorating 'English Canzonettas' as performed by that outstanding Lieder singer Wolfgang Holzmair I would strongly recommend to you. Over the first weekend we will be paying tribute to Dvorák, the centenary of whose death occurred in May, with performances of three of his most endearing chamber works; while for opera-lovers perhaps the highlight of the Festival will be the concert given by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under the direction of one of Italy’s foremost interpreters of the music of the 17th and 18th centuries and joined by two outstanding young soloists, in which recently-discovered music by Vivaldi and his contemporary Giovanni Porta will be performed.

I sincerely hope that in this wealth of musical richness you will find plenty to tempt you, and as always I look forward to seeing you again in November.

Amelia Freedman MBE, Artistic Director