Superb Song Duo : Flavin & Matthewman at City Hall Waterford

Máire Flavinand Gary Matthewman in the Georgian Large Room City Hall Waterford.

Winning Song Team deliver Love in Spring at City Hall

Schumann Widnung; Die Lotusblume; Du bist wie eine Blume; Fruhlinghshnacht

Wolf Er ist’s; Im Fruhling; An eine Aolsharfe; Zitronenefalter

Strauss Allerseelen; O Susser Mai; Fruhlingsgedrange; Morgen

Chausson; Le temps de Lilas; Les Papillons; Le Callibri

Reynaldo Hahn Le Rossignol des Lilas; Ah Chloris; Printemps

WV Wallace: Sweet Spirit, o hear my prayer, Say my heart can this be love; Orange Flowers

Encore Gershwin  Summertime

There was a great sense of occasion in City Hall as Máire Flavin made her debut in Waterford, the birthplace of her parents. The recital, part of the Waterford-Music series was dedicated to Elizabeth Downey, founder member of the chamber music society celebrating 73 years of activity. Taking her cue from the April date, the soprano built a programme around lieder and chanson dedicated to Love and Spring with a soupçon of American Summer for an encore.

Opening with  Widnung, Schumann’s passionate dedication to his bride Clara, Flavin from the off displayed the vocal fire power and stage artistry that propelled her to the finalist rostrum at the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World and on to international opera stages. A rich and full bodied voice with her pleasant stage manner and range of dramatic expression made for an intense and  enthralling performance.  From ‘light touch' Schumann she moved to 'angsty Wolf’. In An eine Aolsharfe, the superb pianism of Gary Matthewman in creating an almost orchestral palette of sound was astonishing. A ravishing postlude to Morgen, a wedding present by Richard Strauss to his wife  closed the first half in a mood blissful rapture.

Birds , butterflys and flowers proliferated in the second half chansons by Chausson and Hahn. The most familiar of which was Ah Chloris with resonance in Bach’s air. In a nice touch,  the lilac theme was picked up in the platform display of purple blooms.. Finally by request we heard a set of charming Victorian ballads by local  favourite WV Wallace which suited the drawing room ambience of the splendid chamber. Beautifully dressed in fuschia gown with lace detail and formal tails, the pair looked as though they could have stepped off the set of Downton Abbey where indeed, Matthewman has done some service. 

 This was a thrilling performance from an exciting singer, all the greater for the superb artistry of  Matthewman whose vivid  piano colours and breath-taking timing  created the enchantment around  Flavin's  magical vocal encounters. A night to treasure  from a winning song team! I don’t expect to hear a finer collaboration any time soon.

Among the distinguished guests were members of the Downey family and Jim and Moira Flavin.


Related Posts

Interview Maire Flavin http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2015/04/maire-flavin-to-make-waterford-debut.html

Remembering Elizabeth Downey  http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2015/04/remembering-elizabeth-downey.html

  



Scenes That Are Brightest: Ennis Brass Band & Friends

Soloist Clodagh Power and  Ennis Brass Band

 Scenes that are brightest                              
 May charm awhile

 Hearts which are lightest,
 And eyes that smile;   from Maritana libretto by Bunn

Scenes That Are Brightest  WV Wallace
A Iosa Mhic Mhuire   trad arr McDonagh
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen   Vincent di Palcido 
Coro nGrata                               

The Christmas Song       
Ave Maria Caccini                               

Zither Carol  Czech Carol       

Seasonal selection from Ennis Brass Band 

  Ennis Brass Band gave a concert of seasonal music  in St Columba's on Saturday night.  I was thrilled  to be invited to perform for a second year at this gathering along with singer Vincent di Placido .  I had the privilege of  opening the programme with a number from the opera Maritana by WV Wallace in honour of  the Waterford born composer's bicentenary year.  Wallace's father was a bandmaster and  noting the dates of the memorials on the candlelit walls it seemed an appropriate choice of period for this space. Vincent has a beautiful lyric tenor voice and his delivery of my favourite  Neopolitan song Coro n Grata (aka Catari) was gorgeous .  I was joined by Fiona de Buitleir on clarinet for my final selection of an Ave Maria attributed to Caccini but thought to be a modern composition and the jaunty Zither carol.  Both Vincent and I were expertly  accompanied by Nigel Bridge, Master of Music  at St Columba's on the house boudoir grand  piano complete with candlabra. 

Members brightening the streets earlier in the day 

This is a wonderful space to play in . The accoustic is rich and warm and the many candles create a magical ambiance. The Ennis Brass Band played a selection of seasonal favourites. Clodagh Power featured as cornet soloist on 'Chestnuts Roasting' In a charming finale children in the audience came front of house to play percussion and conduct the band. The Ennis Brass Band are a treasure and Daragh McAllister  and Nigel Bridge made eloquent opening and  closing remarks on the wonderful contribution this ensemble make to musical life of the town of Ennis . 

Related posts Cornets & Candlelight with  Ennis Brass Band 2011

The Trimmings: Wexford Festival Opera 2012

William Vincent Wallace  bicentenary recital

La Pluie d’Or

Scottische

Sweet Spirit Hear My Prayer Lurline

Fantasia on Moores Melodies The Harp That Once Through Tara’a Halls

The Seasons 4 Canzonettas

Souvenir from Maritana

Invitation Polka

Say My Heart Can This Be Love 

Scenes that are Brightest

Encore I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls Balfe 

Una Hunt piano

Rachel Kelly mezzo soprano

Una Hunt 

The South East  was bathed in sunshine as I travelled to Wexford  to sample some of the fringe events at the annual international Wexford Opera Festival.  At the Jerome Hynes Theatre at Wexford Opera House there was a full house for  a  sparkling morning recital celebrating the bicentennial of  the Waterford born, William Vincent Wallace.   Pianist and broadcaster Una Hunt is well known for her championship  of  less well known 19th century  Irish piano composers and her extensive Moore recital series  .  Wallace has a particular resonance with my youthful musical memories and no variety show in Waterford was complete without a rendition of Scenes that are Brightest or In  Happy Moments. The  piano pieces may be salon trifles but are very  virtuoso in character and present considerable technical challenges which Ms Hunt tossed off seemingly effortlessly following interesting informative introductions. The real surprise of the morning was mezzo soprano ,  Rachel Kelly’s impressive performance of the Wallace songs . Announced as a  stand in for Marie Flavin,  a sylph like Ms Kelly appeared on stage dressed  in long red dress and costume jewellery .  From her

Rachel Kelly mezzo soprano 

opening phrase she had the audience enthralled as she stepped into the character of a demure 19^th century salon debutante,  whether singing wistfully of secret unrequited passion or animatedly about the joy of Spring. One to watch out for and  I look forward to hearing her again. Looking at the festival programme, it is remarkable that Irish singers are thin on the ground in the cast listings.  The lunchtime recital being  full,  I went  instead to the Spiegel Tent and there was an echo of the morning  when Declan Gorman reprised Rachel Kelly’s encore of Balfes’s, I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls  in a scene from his  one man Joyce show Dubliner’s Dilemma  

Link to RTE Lyric feature archive of The Road to Maritana here

@wexfordopera @rtelyricfm More info & audio link to the first episode of William V Wallace The Road to Maritana at rte.ie/lyricfm/featur…
— The Lyric Feature (@LyricFeature) October 9, 2012

Leaving behind the delights of Blaas and Banter of Waterford Quayside,  the lobby in White’s Hotel didn’t have quite the buzz  I expected for a Saturday of a bank holiday weekend.  Perhaps the  lower footfall was due to  the relocation of the afternoon short works series to a school hall about ten minute walk away.  While  the singing was  fine and aspects of the production were very funny and clever, I failed to be transported to the realm of the Queen of the Night  by Roberto Recchia’s  Festival production of Mozart’s  Magic Flute. It was difficult to conjure up the illusion that you were in an anteroom to Sarastro's Temple sitting on school chairs at the back of the long rectangular  space Neither was the show 'short’  by the usual festival standards running at over 1hour 45 minutes and there was a steady drift of patrons from the ‘auditorium’ during the second hour.  To quote Emporer Franz Joseph there were  just ‘too many notes on a sunny afternoon by the coast.

 Notes    I stumbled on the Spiegel Tent on my second trip and thought it was a great addition to the Wexford fringe experience. I was surprised not to see the Spiegel Tent events listed in the Fringe Festival publicity material or  on the Wexford Fringe Festival website and was sorry to miss an event  that I would have enjoyed.  Surprising too that there is no link on the the main festival site to the fringe and vice versa.  The information on lunchtime recitals was sketchy.  Why not have a  big daily notice board in prominent location with all the days events listed and ticket availability  as in the Kilkenomics Festival  .  

Related articles Toscanissimo WFO 2011  http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2011/10/wexford-festival-2011.html

Tamino

Patrick Hyland

Pamina

Anna Jeruc-Kopec

Papageno

Jamie Rock

Sarastro

Thomas Faulkner

Queen of the Night

Nazan Fikret

First Lady

Maria Miro

Second Lady

Eleanor Lyons

Third Lady

Catia Moreso

Papagena

Chloe Morgan

Monostatos

Carlos Noguiera

First Armoured Man

David Sanchez Serra

Second Armoured Man

Cozmin Sime

First Spirit

Elenor Bowers-Jolley

Second Spirit

Natalie Sinnott

Third Spirit

Anna Jeffers