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| Kammerorchester Basel (Photo: Matthias Mueller) |
Mendelssohn: String Symphonies Nos. 4 & 10, Bach; Violin concerto in A minor, Violin concerto in E major, Grieg: Holberg Suite; Basel Chamber Orchestra, Vilde Frang; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 20 May 2026
In a varied programme the Basel players brought real vitality the music, making Mendelssohn's early symphonies invigorating and Grieg's Holberg Suite anything but hackneyed. But the centrepiece was a pair of Bach concertos with Vilde Frang in elegant, expressive and plangent form
The name Basel Chamber Orchestra has resonance, it is associated with the patron and conductor Paul Sacher, who founded the Basler Kammerorchester in 1926 and commissioned works from Stravinsky, Bartók, Martinů, Frank Martin, Hindemith, Henze, Lutosławski, Birtwistle and more. The orchestra disbanded in 1987 and Sacher died in 1999 though The Paul Sacher Foundation continues.
The present Basel Chamber Orchestra (Kammerorchester Basel) began life in 1984 as Serenata Basel founded by graduates of Swiss music academies. Since 1999 it has operated without a chief conductor and also that year the name changed to the present one. And listening to the orchestra today, one can safely forget any Sacher resonances, the orchestra is simply one of the best chamber orchestras around.
On Wednesday 20 May 2026 they paid a visit to Wigmore Hall. Directed from the violin by Baptiste Lopez their programme centred on Bach's two violin concertos (in A minor and E major) with violinist Vilde Frang, alongside Mendelssohn's ;String Symphonies Nos. 4 & 10 and Grieg's Holberg Suite.
We began with Mendelssohn. The orchestra fielded quite a number of musicians fitting 19 strings (5.5.4.3.2) and harpsichord on the stage. Mendelssohn began writing his string symphonies at the age of 11 as composition exercises but the rapid rate at which he wrote them (12 in all over two years) allied to his grasp of music demonstrates the way he was growing as an artist. Symphony No. 4 dates from 1821 (when he was 12) and began with a very Handelian Grave, full of grand, strong gestures leading to a scurrying Allegro with the players combining a vibrant sound with concentrated focussed lines. The Andante featured a gentle violin melody of hazy undulations, then we ended with the vivid vigour of an Allegro vivace again with strong focused tone. The orchestra plays on modern instruments but in this music and particularly in the Bach their use of vibrato was sparing, creating an appealing plangency of line. Mendelssohn's string symphonies are remarkable for a 12-year-old, but the Orchestra's commitment and intent made this an invigorating start to the concert.
Bach's two surviving solo violin concertos are tantalising. We have manuscripts but these date from later in Bach's life, and we have no way of knowing for certain when they were written. Did he write them in 1729/30 when he took over the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig with its concerts at Zimmermann's Coffee House? This seems likely, but a lot of material for that ensemble had its origins in music Bach wrote earlier. His time in Köthen featured a lot of instrumental music (his employer, Prince Leopold did not require choral church music) which Bach would mine during his Leipzig years.
We began with Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV1042, and for this the ensemble slimmed down slightly (4.4.3.2.1) though it has to be said that for my taste the harpsichord (played by Sebastian Wienand) felt underpowered. The opening tutti featured intent, sprung rhythms and Vilde Frang's solo line was fast but alert with an engaging way with passagework and ornament. In the slow movement, Frang's solo line unfolded over the throb of strings. Playing with focus and elegance, her plangent tone with sparing use of vibrato fitted with the orchestra's approach and Frang's concentrated intent line held our attention. The final movement had the feeling of a vibrant dance, and whilst Frang's solo line had plenty of vivid notes in it, she kept that underlying dance feel.
The first half ended with Mendelssohn, his String Symphony No. 10 which was written when he was 14. This is in one movement, and may well have been intended as the start of something larger, but the single movement is remarkably large scale and mature. The opening was atmospheric with a sense of dark brooding and suppressed excitement that hinted at Sturm und Drang. The development was lively and varied, the resulting work surprisingly substantial. Mendelssohn would complete another symphony a year later in 1824, but this would become is first mature symphony.
After the interval came Bach's E minor concerto. The opening was crisp and brisk but out of this flowed Frang's lovely soloistic effulgences, and throughout the movement there was great sense of interplay between Frang and the ensemble violins. The slow movement featured the elegant thread of Frang's sound unfolding over the strong ground bass. There was a magical moment when the bass dropped out, leaving Frang and throbbing upper strings. The finale had an engaging energy and rhythm, with an underlying sway to it, and Frang contributing brilliant violin playing.
We were treated to an encore when Frang was joined by Baptiste Lopez for the slow movement of Bach's Concerto for two violins.
We ended with Grieg looking back at the Baroque era in his Holberg Suite. Remarkably, despite the work's ubiquitousness in its string form it started out as a piano suite. The Praeludium began with tight, compelling rhythms alongside insouciant violin melodies, leading to exuberant excitement in the middle section. The Sarabande was graceful yet intent, full of details in phrasing for all the instrumental lines. The Gavotte was notable for engaging and joyful rhythms, then there was a yearning plangency to the Air, particularly when the melody was in the cellos. We ended with a Rigaudon where both violin and viola soloists gave us vivid and amazingly fast (and light) passagework, imbuing the music with a feeling of their own enjoyment. Throughout the piece we sensed the players' enjoyment, making every detail matter and taking joy in the interactions between them.
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