WHAT’S ON

What’s on in February

Fatal Attraction with Kym Marsh and Oliver Farnworth at Theatre Royal Bath

Tai Chi at the Roman Baths

ARTISTS’ SHOWCASE Throughout February

n Out of the Blue Gallery A beautiful gallery right in the heart of Bath is showcasing some of the best British artists and ceramicists. Set across two floors, the gallery is packed with great pieces. outofthebluegallery.com

TAI CHI AT THE ROMAN BATHS Until 15 March, Tuesdays 8–8.30am

n Roman Baths, Abbey Church Yard Get your day off to a great start with morning Tai Chi sessions on the terrace at The Roman Baths with private instructor Paddy Nisbett. £4 a session. romanbaths.co.uk

THE DA VINCI CODE Until 5 February, 7.30pm

n Theatre Royal Bath The blockbuster story that captivated the world is now an epic stage thriller. The curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered, and there are a series of baffling codes and riddles leading to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and beyond, deep into the vault of history. Tickets from £28. theatreroyal.org.uk

SNOW MOUSE Until6 February

n The Egg Theatre, Theatre Royal Bath Winter has arrived and the woods are covered in white. Children playing outside find a sleeping mouse buried under the soft white flakes. They explore the winter wonderland and keep each other safe and warm from the winter freeze. The perfect first theatre experience. Daily (except Mondays) 9.30am, 11.30am and 1.30pm. 45 minutes long. Tickets £10. theatreroyal.org.uk

HOW THE BIBLE CAN HELP IN TIMES LIKE THESE From 1 February, and on the first Tuesday of each month, 7.30–8.30pm

n New Oriel Hall, Larkhall, Bath Pastor Pete Dickens from Bible Believing Church has agreed with Bath Bible Institute to visit Bath to talk about how the Bible can help you in times like these. Pete is a missionary from the USA. He studied under Peter Ruckman at Pensacola Bible Institute and has taught in Dorset at his independent, fundamental Baptist King James Church for the last 30 years. Pete believes that the Bible teaches absolute truth and can help anyone find peace and purpose. The group is small and very friendly. Tea and biscuits will be provided. testimonykjv.com

U3A: FACING THE DIFFICULT TRUTHS OF THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY 3 February, 10.30am

n Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road Admission to the talks is free for members and asks for a donation of £2 for nonmembers. u3ainbath.org.uk

THE ART OF COMPASSIONATE BUSINESS 8 February, 7.30pm

n Online talk There are several well-ingrained assumptions regarding the dynamics of work and business activities, which can be refuted. Some examples are employees being viewed as commodities, competitors perceived as threats, companies’ resources seen as limited, and customers perceived as scarce and difficult. All of which leads to the question, “Is there a way to perform business activities more humanely?” Talk by Dr Bruno C Cignacco. £2–£5. brlsi.org

FATAL ATTRACTION 8–12 February, 7.30, plus matinees

n Theatre Royal Bath James Dearden’s intoxicating new stage play of Fatal Attraction brings the definitive movie thriller to the UK stage. Starring British pop and TV sensation Kym Marsh as the iconic Alex Forrest, soap star favourite Oliver Farnworth as Dan Gallagher and Footballer’s Wives siren Susie Amy as Beth Gallagher. Tickets from £27.50. theatreroyal.org.uk

JOHN LENNON UK PRESENTS LENNON RETROSPECTIVE 12 February, 8pm

n Chapel Arts, Lower Borough Walls, Bath John Lennon Tribute UK’s show Lennon Retrospective will take the audience on a journey through John Lennon’s best-loved songs starting with his solo work and culminating in the early Beatles classics. The band is fronted by Lennon look-andsound-alike Gaz Keenan. £17. chapelarts.org

MEN’S WALK TO SUPPORT 13 February

n Start at Dorothy House, Winsley 12pm,

finish Bath Pavilion 3pm

Take part in this 8-mile walk for men to join together and raise vital funds for end

Simon Rattle, photograph by Mark Allan

Adam Clutterbuck, Sentinel, Bath Art Fair

of life care in the local community. The walk starts at 12 noon from Dorothy House, Winsley. Participants will set off on the route that follows along the canal and finishes at Bath Pavilion, in time to watch the Six Nations England v Italy match at 3pm. Celebrate your epic achievement with a well-earned free pint and food in the Pavilion! Sign up online: dorothyhouse.org.uk

BATH BACHFEST 17–19 February, and live-streamed

n Assembly Rooms, Bath Enjoy glorious baroque music beneath the Assembly Rooms’ glittering chandeliers, with five concerts over three days. Celebrating the music of J S Bach and his contemporaries the concerts encompass music by Vivaldi, Handel and several lesserknown names. Two fine period music ensembles –Arcangelo and the Academy of Ancient Music –and the award-winning choir Tenebrae will give evening concerts, plus a one-hour lunchtime concert from the acclaimed Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang and a Saturday morning coffee concert from the celebrated duo of recorder player Michala Petri and harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. Tickets £15–£45. bathbachfest.org.uk

EUGENE ONEGIN 24–26 February, 7.30pm

n Roper Theatre, Hayesfield School,

Upper Oldfield Park, Bath

Bath Opera’s large-scale, fully staged period production of Eugene Onegin –with up to 70 professional orchestral players, singers and dancers on stage –is a must-see event. The ever-popular Waltz and Polonaise music will be brought to life as interludes in the unfolding story of youthful passions blighted by jealousy, the whole enriched by the thrilling sound of a large chorus. Tickets: £20–30. bathopera.com; bathboxoffice.org.uk

BATH ART FAIR 26–27 February

n Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath Now in its fifth year The Bath Art Fair is back, bringing together over 90 of the most innovative and exciting professional independent artists from all over the country and Europe. The fair is the perfect setting for customers to discover new, original art. Visitors enjoy meeting the artists, who explain their inspirations and processes, and find an emotional connection with their work that galleries can’t offer. Professional artists with years of experience exhibit side by side with fresh new talent. Saturday 26 February 10am–6pm; Sunday 27 February 10am–5pm. Tickets £6 online, £7 on the door. bathartfair.co.uk

Please confirm with organisers that events are running. See our website for updates and new events added throughout the month: thebathmagazine.co.uk

LOOKING AHEAD:

U3A: THE ART OF THE STONEMASON AND CONSERVATOR IN THE 21ST CENTURY 3 March, 10.30am

n Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road Admission to the talks is free for members and asks for a donation of £2 for non-members. u3ainbath.org.uk

U3A OPEN MORNING 10 March, 10.30am–12.30pm

n Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road Come and find out about the monthly U3A talks, usually held on the first Thursday in the month at 10.30am. Admission to the talks is free for members and asks for a donation of £2 for non-members. If you come to the talk and join U3A in Bath at the meeting then your admission fee is refunded. u3ainbath.org.uk

LARA MELDA & BATH PHILHARMONIA 8 March, 7.30pm

n Bath Forum A grand 19th-century tour through musical Europe, from the rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands via the sophistication of Paris, ending in the Mediterranean heat of Southern Italy. Bath Philharmonia performs musical postcards including the stormy shores of Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave and the riotous Tarantella dance of his 4th Symphony. This concert features Lara Melda, the 2010 BBC Young Musician of the Year winner, performing Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1, a glorious musical love letter and one of the most delicate and sensuous concertos in the repertoire. Tickets: £35/£30/£25/£5. bathboxoffice.org.uk

BRISTOL BEACON PRESENTS LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WITH SIR SIMON RATTLE 14 March, 7pm

n Bath Forum Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra return to Bath Forum in the spring, with a concert that will transport you to other worlds. From Hannah Kendall’s 21st-century classic The Spark Catchers, through Dvořák’s playful American Suite, to Schumann’s most personal symphony, this programme will take you on a fantastic emotional journey. Tickets £10–£55 with limited £10 tickets for under 26s. bristolbeacon.org

FLEMISH WITHOUT A BLEMISH: DECODING A MYSTERY FROM HISTORY By RICHARD KAY

Sometimes pictures only become interesting when they are unsigned; sometimes they become even more intriguing when they are signed. Just such a conundrum arose with the landscape scene illustrated alongside.

The Somerset-based family who had owned it for over 150 years had always believed it be by Paul Bril (1554-1626), an Antwerp-born artist who travelled to Rome and blended Flemish and Italian styles with great skill and faultless technical aplomb. Helpfully, the picture was even signed, but this was where I began to feel concern rather than reassurance.

I soon discovered that an almost identical subject by Bril himself had been sold by Sotheby’s in New York in January 2015. Could Bril really have painted two such similar pictures? And yet there was more than sufficient quality in the details to make me feel that this perplexing picture really had to be by a rarity by Paul Bril himself.

As I pondered, I was grateful for the superb – dare I say Bril-liant? – expertise of the noted Flemish art historian Drs. Luuk Pijl. I had sent him a few clear photographs for his thoughts and he responded so eagerly that I knew that I had the attention of just the right man. He noted that `our` picture was a little less refined than the 1619 example that had been offered at Sotheby’s in 2015 and so he worked on the assumption that it predated that composition, placing it in the 1616-1619 period. He also made the remarkable discovery that `our` picture appeared in another painting from the 17th Century.

This lifted the picture above the mire of doubt and linked it, almost beyond any further argument, to the distinguished collection of a noted collector in early 17th Century Antwerp: exactly where one would expect to find a museum-quality work by Bril.

Drs Pijl will be including the picture in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné, a definitive academic survey of all of Paul Bril’s oeuvre in this medium. The picture is now back in Antwerp. In our The cabinet of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haeght in 1626. The Paul Bril may be seen on the floor at the October auction, the blend of back of the room in the centre of the picture provenance, quality, expertise and (www.commons.wikimedia.org) rigorous scrutiny ensured that the price topped £55,000.

Richard Kay is a Director at Lawrences Auctioneers in Crewkerne. For more information about the firm’s auctions, events and valuation services, please call (01460) 73041 or email enquiries@lawrences.co.uk

Lawrences

AUCTIONEERS

The Linen Yard, South Street, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 8AB. T 01460 73041