Part of the Wigmore's Britten centenary series Before Life and After, Martin Brabbins's concert with the Nash Ensemble focused on works for soloists and strings, all of them masterpieces. Given that the series examines Britten's relationship with the Wigmore itself, it was perhaps inevitable that the closing work should be the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, which was given its world premiere in the hall in 1943. Its companion pieces were the orchestral version of Lachrymae – originally written for viola and piano in 1950 – and Les Illuminations, Britten's extraordinary Rimbaud settings from 1939.

Lachrymae meditates on mortality and the nature of posthumous reputation, as a melody by John Dowland struggles to free itself from a series of gnarled variations imposed upon it. The sombre orchestration, which Britten produced shortly before his death in 1976, heightens its intensity. Lawrence Power played it with great dignity, technical prowess and beauty of tone. Brabbins's taut conducting brought home the full force of its austerity.

Les Illuminations, in contrast, is a work of streetwise swagger that ironically examines themes of urban sophistication and sexual ambiguity. Given that it plays with ideas of gender, it seems appropriate that it can be sung by either a tenor or, as here, a soprano. Sandrine Piau's silvery sound, at once chaste and sensual, fitted the music like a glove, and her understated way with Rimbaud's innuendos was matchless: being a native French speaker doubtless helped. It's impossible to imagine the work better done.

The soloists in the intensely felt performance of the Serenade, meanwhile, were John Mark Ainsley and Richard Watkins. Ainsley took a couple of minutes to settle, then did extraordinary things with the Nocturne and Elegy. Watkins's burnished, beautifully focused playing was second to none. The Nash strings were exquisite.

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