Hugh Tinney and Catherine Leonard Pat O’Kelly
The ever-assiduous Madeleine Flanagan of ‘Classical-links’ in Claregalway keeps me informed of events in the West. Her latest missive draws my attention to this year’s Westport Festival of Chamber Music taking place over the weekend September 7-9.
Founded in 2013 by violinist Catherine Leonard and pianist Hugh Tinney, they continue to guide the festival artistically and expand its content. This year an array of artists from at home and abroad appear in six eclectic programmes at three venues – Westport House, Holy Trinity Church and the Town Hall Theatre – each ideally suited to the intimacy of chamber music.
Opening at Westport House, Grieg’s ‘3rd Violin and Piano Sonata’ introduces Venezuelan and Irish musicians Giovanni Guzzo and Michael McHale. Later Britain’s Heath Quartet and Norwegian violist Eivind Holtsmark Ringstad combine for Mozart’s marvellous ‘G minor Quintet’.
Less familiar music provides a separating buffer – two song cycles from tenor Robin Tritschler accompanied by English pianist Diana Ketler. Tritschler has a penchant for peppering his recitals with things a little off the beaten track and here he offers Darius Milhaud’s ‘Chants Populaires Hébraïques’ (Hebrew folksongs) and Arthur Honegger’s ‘Petit Cours de Morale’ (Little lessons in morals). Contemporaries in 1920s Paris, the composers were part of a mildly rebellious group known as ‘Les Six’.
Three events on Saturday, September 8, begin at the Town Hall with young artists Killian White, cello and Gary Beecher, piano. Last year’s €5,000 Fr Frank Maher award winner, Killian received a €15,000 RDS bursary earlier this year. The talented Beecher, from Cork’s School of Music, was the Irish Freemasons Musician of the Year in 2014. Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy are their morning-matinee composers.
Programme
The Town Hall also houses the evening and late-night concerts and finds Robin Tritschler in both with music new and old. The former brings US composer Lowell Liebermann’s six Yeats settings ‘A Poet to his Beloved’ in which the Heath Quartet, William Dowdall, flute and Hugh Tinney, piano join the singer. The romantic sweep of Rakhmaninov’s ‘Cello Sonata’ with Natalie Clein and Diana Ketler and Fauré’s ‘G minor Piano Quartet’ complete this substantial programme.
The late-night recital is devoted to Schumann’s song cycle ‘Dichterliebe’ (A poet’s love) with Messrs Tritschler and McHale. Written in 1840 with Schumann at the pinnacle of his vocal writing powers, ‘Dichterliebe’ is a setting of 16 poems by Heinrich Heine.
The festival returns to Westport House on Sunday morning for the Heath Quartet in Britten’s ‘2nd Quartet’. Dating from 1945, this was completed soon after the success of his opera Peter Grimes.
The afternoon’s concluding concert in Holy Trinity Church focuses on Schubert’s intriguing ‘Arpeggione Sonata’ with Ringstad and McHale and Mendelssohn’s exhilarating ‘2nd Piano Trio’. In between Diana Ketler also commemorates Debussy’s centenary – he died in Paris on 25th March 1918 – with his Six Épigraphes Antiques. Originally for piano duo and the only music he wrote in 1914, Debussy revised them for solo piano the following year.
Booking online at www.westporttheatre.com, by phone on 098 28459 or in person at the Town Hall Theatre box office.