Salle: RWCMD: Dora Stoutzker Hall, Cardiff

Both a grand and intimate programme from Imogen Cooper, centred around the music of Robert Schumann. 

I have come to look forward to the variety of repertoire often presented by Mark Eager and the Welsh Sinfonia, often mixing more familiar works with other, less-prominent compositions. This evening’s short and simple concert offered a programme in this very vein: four 20th- and 21st-century composers with somewhat different yet complementary styles.

After hearing the Welsh Sinfonia’s last concert in January 2013, I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend their Gala Finale concert this month. This was particularly the case since it included a première of a new composition by Roxanna Panufnik, daughter of Andrzej Panufnik, whose Epitaph I heard finely performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in March.

In light of this year’s Britten centenary, The Welsh Sinfonia has slipped its foot in the door with what will be one of many commemorative concerts to be given over the next eleven months.