From my Homeland – Nash Ensemble 1

Wigmore Hall, London: Named after Smetana's piece for Violin and Piano, the Nash Ensemble's main Winter series “From my Homeland” got off to a flying start with this attractive programme. For the purposes of the series Brahms seems to have been co-opted as an Honorary Czech, not because of any particular Czech affiliations but because of his sponsorship of Dvořák. Especially welcome was the opportunity to hear his First Serenade in its Nonet version as reconstructed in 1987 by the late Alan Boustead (for a concert and recording by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble).