A grand piano on a Tall Ship! I was in the riverside town New Ross in Co Wexford for the launch of the 2023 New Ross Piano Festival. The hook for this year's programme is the local connection to Canada and there is a special emphasis on the work of Rachmaninov on a significant anniversary.
The special guest was the Irish ambassador to Canada, Eamonn McKee. The ambassador spoke eloquently on the story of the Irish in Canada. McKee made the point that while the story of the Irish in America is well documented, the story of the Irish in Canada is relatively untouched. He whetted our appetites to know more about figures like Tadhg O Brennan, the first known Irishman in Canada, John Palliser a Dubliner who led a scientific exploration of the prairies and the waves of Irish influencers that shaped Canada's history. You can read more about this fascinating subject in this piece by McKee Fifty Irish Lives in Canada: It's Complicated and That's Great.
Ambassador to Canada Eamonn McKee
Having exhausted the Ros Tapestry idea with 15 pieces commissioned, one for each panel, artistic director Finghin Collins has turned to another notable feature of New Ross, the Dunbrody Famine Ship. The original 19 century ship, he explained was commissioned by the Graves family and built in Canada and sailed between New Ross and St Laurence until it ran aground in 1873. This year, two new pieces inspired by the original Dunbrody and its replica, will be heard at the Friday night concert; one by Irish composer , Marian Ingoldsby and one by Canadian composer, Francois Vallieres.
There is much to tempt music lovers to the New Ross Piano Festival. Jazz fans are catered for with various events on Thursday. An event with words and music drawn from the music and writing of Rachmaninov is a novel feature on this year's programme. To round off the launch Collins sat at the piano and played a Chopin Ballade with his usual panache. Great music, eloquent words, wine and food and the rain held off. Hats off to the hard working committee who amazingly have kept this super festival going in for 17 years.
What a privilege to arrive at the start another decade. My 7th! A nudge to get on and do the things that one most enjoys. To mark my 60th birthday, I gave a recital of my favourite music from the cinema. A week after the day, I presented the programme at the Upstairs Gallery at the Coastguard Cultural Centre in Tramore. I was joined by pianist and composer Marian Ingoldsby. The evening sun was still bright and the white horses of the sea were visible through the windows of the scenic Coastguard Station on the Doneraile in the seaside town.
In December 2021, I commissioned a new violin from luthier Mark Keenan. I made the trip down to Mark's workshop in Belmont, Co Offaly to collect the instrument in August. It is a copy of a Golden period Stradivarius and I look forward to playing it in the years ahead. To go with a new instrument I commissioned a new piece for violin and piano by Marian Ingoldsby and gave the premiere performance at the event. A world premiere no less! Notions!
I am happy to report that the venue was full and a retiring collection raised €500 for Meals on Wheels. Thank you all!
Set List below
Melodies of the Silver Screen
Coastguard, Tramore 4th September 2022
Cathy Desmond -Violin & Marian Ingoldsby -Piano
Guest Tenor John Drohan
Programme
·Humoresque;
Dvorak1947 Humoresque
·Romanze;
Shostakovich 1955
The GADFLY
·Salut
d’Amour; Elgar1962Elgar (dir Ken Russell)
·Windmills
of Your Mind;Legrand1968 The Thomas Crown Affair-
·Loss
of Love ; Henry Mancini1970 Sunflower
·Speak
Softly Love; Nino Rota1972 The Godfather
·Lara’s
Theme;MauriceJarre1965 Dr Zhivago
·Theme
Schindler’s List; John Williams1993 Schindler’s List
·Por
Una Cabeza; Carlos Gardel2002 Scent of a Woman
Antrim is a long way from my base in the South East but arriving home from a week exploring Scotland's West coast, the ferry dropped me in Larne a short hop from the village of Glenarm and fortuitously in the nick of time to catch the last day of the weekend festival dedicated to singing, part of a development programme for young singers by Northern Ireland Opera. At St Patrick's Church, a 'select audience' gathered to hear a song recital by soprano Soraya Mafi and pianist Simon Lepper. Fresh from a lead role in Glyndebourne, the soprano presented an appealing programme concluding with a clutch of settings of Irish texts, only one of which I had heard before. For a singer used to a big auditorium, Mafi handled the acoustic of the bijou venue comfortably demonstrating her strength and colour but never overpowering, giving succinct and clear introductions to each number. She revealed that although her name is Persian, her mother is from Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo. Entry was free gratis to all and I look forward to catching the radio broadcast in early September in my kitchen thanks to a couple of unobtrusive suspended mics. Although not new, the wonders of radio technology never cease to amaze me. A top notch presentation by a duo on top of their métier that could as easily have graced the stage of the Wigmore Hall as a rural parish church on the Antrim coast.
Outside Broadcast Unit in situ in Glenarm.
Later in the evening, the competition finale took place across the road in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and it was good to see a good crowd gathered to hear the five finalists. The distinctive plummy tones of MC Sean Rafferty gave the event that Radio 3 vibe. Unusually for a vocal competition we heard all the competitors in a a selection of ensemble numbers as well as solo items. It made for a very convivial event as did the cup of tea served in the adjacent school hall. It was good to meet Cork soprano Niamh O Sullivan and Fr Eugene O Hagan of the vocal trio The Priests.
Each of the five singers were impressive and I hope to hear them all gain. I loved Owen Lucas' rendition of a setting of Ledwidge by Michael Head. My pick for the winner though was Michael Bell, one of the most experienced singers on the platform. The jury's selection was Owen Lucas who was also the audience favourite. Hannah O Brien won the Song prize with a song titled Bid Adieu with music and lyrics composed by James Joyce. I have no doubt I will hear Heather Sammon, a mezzo from Wicklow and David Kennedy a baritone from Galway again. Owen Lucas can be heard next in the NI Opera production of La Traviata and Michael Bell and Hannah O Brien are off to the Wexford Opera Factory. Doireann O Carroll accompanied the Song Prize.
I wound up the evening at McCollum's Pub in Cushendall where it was fun swapping tunes with a merry band of brothers from Derry in the Front Parlour. #DiscoverNorthernIreland. Bravo tutti! A most entertaining day!
Songs I Wish I'd Sung:Jamie Beamish at the Theatre Royal.
It is quite a while since I posted on Cathy's Reviews. Over the last ten days, I have enjoyed some terrific events and so to sharpen the memories and send a virtual buala bos, here is the first of posts on recent excursions.
Musician and actor, Jamie Beamish was great company for an evening of songs and stories at the Theatre Royal. Over two hours, he sang a set of songs from the shows and told wry and self deprecating stories about his theatre life starting out in the school shows at De la Salle to landing roles in major TV shows, most recently as Ciaran in Derry Girls and the cad, Nasty Nigel in Bridgerton. None of which I can repeat here as our host said, 'What is said in the Theatre Royal stays in..."Without notes or autocue, Beamish spun an nostalgic narrative that was moving but never cloying. Accompanied by pianist, Dylan Browne, he was joined on stage by friends, Andrew Holden, Ray Collins, David Flynn and Susan Boyce for various duets.
I occasionally ran across Beamish over the years. An true all-rounder, the first time I met him, he was in college and doing sound design for a show in Garter Lane. On other occasions, he was home from London, directing and stage managing plays. Listening to him reminisce on the various shows and characters many of whom I knew, I was reminded of how much fun and excitement musical theatre bestowed on us growing up in a Waterford that was often a bit drab in the long winter months. I enjoyed many nights myself playing violin in the pit for schools and musical societies. How I wondered yet again, could Waterford have let its International Light Opera Festival slip away. On the way out, we passed Browne, digital keyboard under his arm. (Why does the Theatre Royal not have a decent in-house piano.? Every show that I have seen here has used electric keyboards of varying standards. Browne's was one of the better ones)
The evening reminded me of Alan Cumming's cabaret style show Sappy Songs seen at an Edinburgh Festival in 2016 https://www.pbs.org/show/alan-cumming-sings-sappy-songs/. Beamish's performance was all the more remarkable as it was the first time he had presented this show whereas Cummings material had toured extensively and was well honed when I saw it. A wonderful evening and if Graham Norton needs an entertaining guest for his talk show, he should give Jamie Beamish's agent a ring. Much more fun than Rene Le Page
A Garden Serenade. Cathy Desmond / Marian Ingoldsby
Culture Night offered the impetus to get down to some serious practice and take to a platform to perform live. This year it seemed best to embrace the outdoors as al fresco events seemed to pose less problems. I was delighted to have an invitation from Waterford Libraries to perform in Tramore. The Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens made their entrance space available for an afternoon serenade. The weather was still warm but the forecast was for rain and I was not optimistic that we would perform but miraculously after a morning of rain, the skies cleared and the sun even made an appearance. The Japanese Garden team have a smashing gazebo that provided cover for the 60 or so people who came along to the soirée.
With my collaborator, Marian Ingoldsby, I enjoyed devising an hour long programme of words and music that would resonate with the natural beauty of our performance location and explore some connections with Lafcadio Hearn. It was a thrill to hear the birds singing in the back ground. I was reminded of Beatrice Harrison's duet with a nightingale in her garden captured in a 1920's BBC recording. I transposed some of my usual violin repertoire for viola to get a bit of extra heft for the outdoor acoustic. All went well apart from a little hiccup when winds ruffled the pages of our finale. I was delighted to feature in the Liam Murphy's reviews of the day's events in the Munster Express published 28th September.
An extract from Liam Murphy's column here.
"DUO FRIZZANTE
are a two-piece of Marion Ingoldsby (keyboards) and Cathy Desmond (viola), and they provided a delightful and well-devised programme specifically for the garden setting, and the audience loved the vibe and at times hummed along.
Opening with 'Dear Thought Are In My Mind' and a sense of autumnal enchantment 'Down By The Sally Gardens' underlining the beautiful surroundings. the medley of Moore's Melodies was special with 'The Last Rose Of Summer', 'The Minstrel Boy' and 'Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms'.
The sun shone, small planes droned overhead, and there was the buzz of traffic, and the G&S tune 'Tit Willow' (The Mikado) eased into a familiar Elgar 'Salut D'amour'. Highlights of the recital were 'Trees'; Raindrops Prelude' and 'Autumn Leaves'. The late and much-missed Eric Sweeney was remembered with his 'The Cherry Blossom' composed to a Mark Roper haiku.
The Ketelbey 'In A monastery Garden' was a nostalgic finale to a wonderful and" restorative recital.
Members of Waterford Libraries and LH Garden teams with Cathy and Marian
Set List: The Lark in the Clear Air/ The Sally Gardens
Set 2 Moores Melodies 1- 4 last Rose The Minstrel Boy- Believe Me of All Those Endearing Young Charms Oft in The Stilly Night
Set 3 Tit Willow from the Mikado GS Gilbert /Salut D'Amour Elgar ] Set 4 Haiku Eric Sweeney Cherry Blossom Cherry Ripe Cyril Scott Set 5 Chopjn Raindrop Prelude piano solo Trees Joyce Kilmer/ Oscar Rasbach Autumn Leaves Set 6 Latin Quarter , Albeniz Tango La Paloma / La Cucuracha
Sometimes less is more. A concert performance of Puccini’s tear-jerker proved to be perfect solace for yet another lockdown Saturday night. Over a year when the archives of the world’s great opera houses were thrown open, you could view the most lavish of productions. Nevertheless, hearing the sound of a live orchestra tuning up for a streamed performance at the BGE Theatre in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock produced a feeling of happy anticipation and high emotion every bit as strong as the most extravagant Wagnerian moment.
The love story between Rudolfo and Mimi may be the main attraction of La Boheme but it is the rapport between the four male leads that play the house-sharing friends that gives the work its cheerful heart and soul. Irish National Opera presented two new international voices to Irish audiences. Lithuanian tenor Merūnas Vitulskis and Serbian baritione, David Bizic were impressive as Rudolfo and Marcello. They were joined by Irish singers Ben McAteer as Schaunard and John Molloy as Colline. Despite the limitations of the concert format, the quartet gave remarkably credible characterisation and exuded a spirited bonhomie and empathy.
Celine Byrne was splendid as Mimi managing to convey a sense of fragilty while giving full heft to her arias. Anna Devin was delightfully bright and breezy as Musetta.
There was no stinting on the elements that traditionally flesh out this opera. A childrens’ chorus sang from the balcony. A bijou military band occupied the boxes and a 25 strong chorus sang from the stalls. Less dramatic action on stage added an intensity to the colourful score, a feature amplified by having the 60piece orchestra arrayed onstage behind the soloists. That the orchestra looked and sounded marvellous was a testament not only to the Spanish conductor Sergio Alapont but to the sound, lighting and camera crew.
An audio recording of the production will be released later. The production will be available to view online until Friday 19th March
Note: In the online programme notes, newspaper reviews from the Irish premiere in 1897 made for interesting reading. The Freeman’s Journal reported that there was standing room only in the Gaiety at the Irish premiere by the Carla Rosa Opera Co. The Independent reviewer’s tone was cooler, reporting that ‘it were a hard task to conceive a colder welcome for a new work’ describing the audience as ‘cruelly impassive’. Ouch!
Coming to a screen near you...💻🎶 Puccini's #Labohème in a special concert performance, starring @CelineSoprano, livestreamed from the stage of @BGETheatre on 13 March. Tickets are on sale now 🙌
I first came across the songs of John F Larchet at a recital presented by pianist Niall Kinsella at the John Field Room back in January 2018. (http://cathydesmond.blogspot.com/2018/03/on-songlarchet-and-moore-remembered-at.html) I was impressed on first hearing with the set of a dozen or so elegant songs in a light-hearted nostalgic vein and was surprised at how little I knew of such appealing repertoire. With many of the songs out of print, Kinsella did the spade work in gathering the complete set of songs by a key figure in the Irish Literary revival at the beginning of the 20th century. The next step was to commit the songs to disc. John F Larchet: Complete Songs and Airs has just been released on the Champs Hill Records. Kinsella is reunited with singers Gavan Ring in baritone mode and mezzo soprano, Raphaela Mangan who sing alternate numbers. The songs are paired with two sets of Irish airs beautifully played by Mia Cooper and Kinsella. (Fans of the TC Kelly arrangements for violin and piano will love these.) Cooper adds a strand of spirited violin virtuosity also to Padraic the Fiddiler and Verity Simmons adds a melancholy cello obligado to Diarmuid's Lament. The songs spanning Larchet's lifetime vary substantially in style veering from light music evoking the era of whimsical Edwardian Parlour songs and the world of Ivor Novello to more dramatic songs reminiscent of Stanford or Britten. Detailed notes by Andrew Stewart provide context and full lyrics by poets such as Padraic Gregory, Michael Macliammóir, WB Yeats, Emily Lawless and Elizabeth Shane. This is a welcome to the discography of Irish composers, the culmination of impressive scholarship with stylish performances highlighting largely as yet unfamiliar repertoire.
My Favourite Tracks
Love's Question: Hardress Wyles
A Stoirín Ban : Padraic Gregory
Cait Ni Duibhir Violin and piano air
Wee Hughie Elizabeth Shane
Padraic the Fiddiler Padric Gregory
Behind closed doors in Drogheda (via Susan on twitter)
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic shutdown, major cultural centres responded by opening up their digital archives. I had hours of free entertainment sifting through performances from around the world. It wasn't unusual to find myself scrambling to catch the end of a Wagnerian epic at breakfast time before it disappeared to make way for another must-see production. While it was a thrill to watch big lavish productions from the Met and Glyndebourne, more intimate smaller scale events proved an even more effective antidote to the self-isolation blues. Even better if they were filmed in a beautiful historic location like this one from Caramoor, a historic house in Westchester County, USA. Still available to watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOIGj-_JLJg
In the UK, the Wigmore Hall has been doing a fabulous job in extending the walls of the chamber music venue in London's city centre to audiences around the globe. On 26th June, director John Gilhooly broadcast a thoughtful address on the WH digital platform. What a star this man is! Watch it here. At the conclusion, Gilhooly credits the 'exceptional digital production abilities' of Darius Weinberg at WH. After an initial period that saw artists reaching out to their base with home produced videos that helped to keep us connected but suffered from poor sound quality, recent weeks have seen some exciting new ventures with the experience transformed by professional sound reproduction and camera work.
Here are some of the events, I 'attended' this week. Piano and Wind Quintets in Drogheda: Drogheda Classical Music launched a new initiative spearheaded by director Pauline Ashwood. A concert filmed at St Peter Church in Drogheda was broadcast live and available to watch on demand for a stated fee on vimeo for three days. On their website, you were directed to buy a ticket for €10 and you could access the performance via the society's web page. Drogheda is a bit far from my base at the best of times and I had never visited this venue, a 19th century Gothic Revival Church. Pianist Finghin Collins was flanked on either side by a quartet of first rank Irish wind players in an hour long programme of sparkling quintets by Mozart and Beethoven. If you want catch that, you'll have to be quick as it is available for just one more day. Details here https://vimeo.com/ondemand/droghedaclassical/ Song Recital at Russborough House:
Fiachra Garvey and Gavan Ring in Russborough House
The Music Room in the historic house that is home to the Beit Art Collection made an attractive venue for a recital of popular arias performed by tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Fiachra Garvey with introductions by Liz Nolan of RTE. Again I enjoyed the virtual visit to an unfamiliar venue as much as the musical offering. In a engaging introduction, Garvey informed us that the piano was in fact Alfred Beit's own instrument and being heard for the first time at a West Wicklow Festival event and very fine it sounded too.
With both recitals, the opportunity to nosey around an unique venue was a big part of the attraction. I would have like the camera to pan around a little more to have a look at the immediate surroundings and maybe to linger a little on some of the pictures in the famous collection that was stolen no less than four times. Here patrons were invited by the host to make a donation to the West Wicklow Festival. That is available to watch indefinitely here https://www.westwicklowfestival.com/
West Cork Chamber Music Festival: This time last year, like many music fans, I was heading to Bantry. This year 'to soften the blow of losing the 2020 festival' the West Cork Chamber Music Festival has a series of recitals filmed in various European and one American location and is releasing one each evening until July 5th. Looking forward to catching some of the events. See our Music Archive releases here See our latest COVID-19 updates here
Yike's: Is this an oboe reed I see before me!
TV Philharmonia: I watched all six episodes of the French TV drama available on Channel 4. A corny whodunnit set in a Parisian Symphony Orchestra with a liberal chunks of classical music woven in to the mix. One reviewer described it as 'hilariously OTT- Acorn Antiques with subtitles'. D'accord! In the later episodes, French horn player Agathe announces her pregnancy to her rival by blasting Helene with a few bars of her lover's new piece and the appearance of a spurious oboe reed in the main protagonist's dressing room is a portent of murder. 'An ill wind indeed!. Stuart Jeffries entertaining Guardian review here https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/31/philharmonia-review-acorn-antiques-with-subtitles
Radio I caught the second of Cristín Leach's 4 part programme on the exploration on Ireland and Irish identity in visual art during the last three hundred years. The second episode covering the representation of famine and the land wars in 19th century was good listening even if it was crying out for the visual dimension of television. Listen here https://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/the-lyric-feature/#103442036. John Bowman delved into the archives to recall Dickens' visits to Ireland https://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowman-sunday-830/
Is it really more than three months already since the sudden shutting down of life as we knew it back in March 12th? That Thursday was a busy day as I shuttled from teaching assignments in a rural primary school and after school commitments at WAMA in Waterford. I had been due to visit Paris at the weekend but the announcement on March 9th that theatre gatherings of more than 1000 were banned had rendered the purpose of the trip invalid and I was already resigned to a weekend at home and even if I am honest, relieved not to have to endure the tribulations of airports and planes. So with the normal routines suspended, I settled into a month of tackling long put off housekeeping tasks and watching an endless round of news briefings to keep up with the progress. Finally after 5 years in my current address, I had tidy hot press, a clean oven and had even managed to turn out a batch of scones. Now three months later that domestic goddess badge has tarnished and shock horror, all those jobs need doing again already and an unopened carton of buttermilk loiters forlornly in my fridge now well past its sell by date.
Social Distance Recital with neighbours 2020
It helped that in March and April, we enjoyed clement weather with balmy evenings, so I was in my garden when I heard an unfamiliar sound. What was it, I wondered when as the volume increased, It was birdsong. Quite a trill so to speak. Fortunate to live in a coastal town, the limitations of a 2km walk was no hardship and I walked down lanes and visited spots, I hadn't noticed before despite them being on my doorstep. Chance meetings with friends and acquaintances had a different unhurried pace. Nobody was too busy to stop and chat. In the conversations, a sense of guilt seemed common as voices were dropped to admit that they were enjoying lockdown, the slower pace, car free roads, birdsong all of it. With the house busy as adult children returned to the nest to work from home, escaping to the garden shed to read became an afternoon ritual for a while. . Three months on, the self imposed routines are sliding and I feel a sense of trepidation as we prepare for a return to some sort of normal routines although still sadly devoid of live music and theatre. I am sore hearted for all the management and artists who have put so much work into planning events and festivals all now for naught. Months and years of hard work with no reward and an uncertain future.
Here are some of my lockdown highlights.
Elaine Power of East Pier with Nevin Maguire
Food. First things first.After a month of home cooking, the longing for something I hadn't prepared myself was acute.While I could live quite happily without ever visiting a fine dining restaurant, I prefer not to even contemplate a life without a bag of chips doused in salt and vinegar, ideally eaten on the prom. There was great excitement in our house when the first of our local chippies opened their doors after more than a month. Best fish and chips so far came from, Elaine Power's East Pier van in Dunmore East. Excellent birthday treat food came from our local Indian restaurant Voujon in Tramore. Books.
With shops closed and preferring to support my local bookshop than some international behemoth I was thrilled to receive a parcel of books from The Book Centre Waterford all wrapped up in their signature maroon paper. The books I have enjoyed reading so far are Gail Honeyman's debut novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Rose Tremain's Music and Silence, a languid yarn set in the 17th century Danish court and featuring an English lutenist as the main protagonist. Fran O Brien based in Tipperary sent me a couple of her books which she produces as fundraisers for the Laura Lynn Foundation. I enjoyed Ballystrand, a family saga of dark secrets and redemption. My favourite pandemic read was Max Jaffa's autobiography, A Life on the Fiddle, a fascinating memoir on the life of the celebrated English violinist who made a career in light music. I also loved the Ladybird Tales of Superheroes, six traditional stories from around the world with lovely illustrations.
Teaching/ Work.
My experiences with Zoom weren't good and I hesitated to embark on teaching on this or a similar platform. I did however set about making some video tutorials covering some easy Irish tunes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx07UZce_7xwXUc5hB0SEvA
Lockdown Ukuleles: With the prospect of gatherings seeming a long way off and inspired by pop star Bressie I released my classroom set of ukuleles free to anyone willing in my area and posted some video tutorials on the Tramore Ukulele Group fb page. On Friday, I made a tentative return to group activity with a small gathering in my garden. Looking forward to getting together again and thinking about how best to facilitate the group in the weeks and months ahead. Check out the TRUGs activity here https://www.facebook.com/TramoreUkes/ It was a pleasure to talk to Damien Tiernan on his morning show on WLR about the initiative. Check out one of the videos here
Online Opera and Music.
I sifted through some of the myriad of options of cultural events available to watch online for an article in the Irish Examiner Check it out here Opera and Music Events to Enjoy Live at Home The volume and quality of what is available is amazing. Most recently, I tuned in to watch Handel's Rinaldo from Glyndebourne. I wasn't impressed by the mish mash of school blazers and knights in chain mail but the performers were fantastic and it is well worth a listen.
Radio:
Roberts 3 band radio Great value at €25 at Sound Store
Forced to choose between my TV or my radio, I would be sad to jettison the former but I wouldn't part with the latter. It never ceases to amaze me how accurately the technology reproduces the timbre of individual instruments and voices even on a cheap transistor. Opera Night on Saturdays RTE Lyric is a favourite and weather permitting I like to listen outdoors with the birds swooping and adding an extra dynamic to the score. Highlights have been Siobhan Cleary's Vampirella, Vivaldi's Griselda and Andrew Synnott's Dubliners.
I have been disappointed with the selection of highlights on RTE's Playback recently, the presenters rarely seem to venture beyond the realm of talk radio heard 9 to 5 on the main station often returning for a second bite of a dull segment. Amongst the most banal clips are usually those from Ray Darcy's afternoon show which we are never spared it seems. I was amused at Ellen Cranitch promising 'no sourdough' in her trailer for Purple Vespertine I assume in response to the tedium of Darcy's coverage of the topic. I am rarely tempted to listen back to programmes. In contrast BBC radio tends to throw its net wider. This week's selection by Julie Hesmondhalgh had me delving into the schedule. It is good to hear regional accents on a country's major broadcast station. The programme opened with a clip of Mullingar lass and soprano extraordinaire Ailish Tynan from her Wigmore Hall lunchtime broadcast on BBC Radio3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000k94z.
Also heard on Radio 3 as well as available to watch online was a fabulous recital by 'two talented Michaels. Michael McHale and Michael Collins have played in Waterford. I loved their programme of 20th century French repertoire with a dazzling interlude by Carl Maria von Weber. I liked Georgia Mann's easy presenting style. Details here https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/michael-collins-michael-mchale-202006181300
Some of my favourite clips on RTE radio have been heard on Countrywide presented by Damien O'Reilly. This week we heard the wonderful Seamus O Rourke's piece 'The Drawer' ahead of Father's Day Maithiú Séamus.https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21791676 I had to pinch myself on hearing aging Rolling Stone giving parenting tips on Newstalk with Pat Kenny on how to keep small small children entertained during lockdown. Rock and Roll just ain't what it used to be!
TV
Such are the vagaries of Irish weather, that while a clement April and May saw us outdoors basking in the sun, summer soltice had us retreating indoors and lighting the fire not for any ritualistic purpose but to keep warm. Oh well- there were consolations. On the longest night, I watched another episode of Giovane Montalbana which is my current favourite viewing at least until season 3 of Sucession comes along. It is a bit like Midsummer Murders but in a more exotic location. I had grown a bit weary of the main programme with a surly detective. This prequel showing on BBC 4 is an improvement on the original with a more appealing inspector and it is lovely viewing at a time when a trip to an Italian seaside is off the agenda.
Muinteoir Ray with Muinteoirí John and Cliodhna
RTE Home School Hub. TV There was a time when there seemed to be a lot of educational stuff on telly. Insomniacs could brush up on assorted Open University programmes. I remember watching programmes about obscure hsitorical figures, poets and mathematicians late in the night. Draw with Don with Don Conroy was a staple of childrens' TV on RTE but that strand of educational programming disappeared to obscure realms of the internet. What a pity. . I was excited about RTE's in initiative to fill the void left by school closures with a daytime educational programme. It was remarkable how quickly Macalla Teoranta, a media production company manage to get their homeschool programme on air, a mere two weeks I think after the shutdown. I tuned in initially to gather some tips on good practice and quickly became hooked. Over 60 or so hour long programmes, the team delivered consistently good programmes covering a wide range of topics. I liked everything about it. I loved that was so many elments but the teachers relied less on high tech teaching resources and more on their excellent communication skills. Special guests added interest along the way but the core team were the stars. So many highlights but off then top of my head, these stick in my mind, astronomer Niamh producing her school science notebooks, M Ray's lesson on how to write a review (I could have done with that when I was starting my jounalistic activity), Muinteoir John's (Sharpson) singing In San Fhásach and M Cliodhna's lesson on silhouette animator, Lotte Reiniger Hearing an cheerful looking Ray Cuddihy spring onto the set with a cheerful greeting as gaeilge every morning was reassuring. Muinteoir John was occasionally joined by Dolores (his guitar) for some brilliant music lessons and Muintoeir Cliodhna closed out with some very messy art work that I was glad I wouldn't be required to reproduce. It was a pitch perfect production for the time in which it was broadcast and probably won't have a long shelf life which makes it all the more special . Comhgairdeachas! Maith sibh go léir to all involved It was fantastic I confess I wept on the last day, my tears wiped away by my grown up child who had taken a coffee break to watch with mother. Truly it is a strange time! Performing
I had some lovely engagements during lockdown. I was chuffed to be invited by neighbours to play outside my gate. on a a couple of balmy Summer evening . (Image above)
It was an honour to be invited by St Joseph's Retirement Home in Ferrybank to be the first guest entertainer on their new home channel. I played in the studio set up in the hall and the performance was broadcast to all the residents rooms.
Thank you Tracy at Waterford Libraries for commissioning me to record some musical snippets around Tramore here is one of them. Four clips appeared on the Waterford Libraries facebook page as part of their Bealtaine initiative. The Japanese gardens looked stunning on the morning I visited
On any given Easter Sunday, I would normally gravitate to a church whether at home or abroad. I feel privileged to have experienced wonderful sacred music on travels to Europe. In recent years, Misteria Paschalia, a festival of Baroque Sacred Music in Krakow in the city's sacred spaces was a highlight. In Munich, while opera was the draw, it was the wonderful liturgical music in the Bavarian capital's churches that lives longest in my memory. This time last year, I found myself at the Basilica Notre Dame du Roncier in the picturesque Breton town, Josselin on the Nantes-Brest Canal. A little burst of the bells heard there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj9LatALZtY As a musician, it was wonderful to be part of the liturgical music at home be it in the parish church at Dunboyne, Ennis Cathedral and more recently at Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in the wonderful Georgian Cathedral in Waterford. This year, I couldn't quite reconcile myself to broadcasts from empty churches and contented myself with a gawk at the Archbishop of Canterbury's kitchen during his skype address on BBC TV.
For my home recording on Easter Sunday morning 2020, I looked for a suitable air and turned to no 105 in Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland .Easter Snow seemed on the face of it to be appropriate. The air, I learned was a favourite of piper Seamus Ennis, and he named his caravan home in the Naul after this air. I listened to a recording that his daughter Catherine made playing organ with piper Liam Og O Flynn. I couldn't find a vocal version that closely matched the tune in my volume of Irish Airs in Tomás O Canainn's collection. I particularly liked Hull based multi instrumentalist Wolfy O Hare's brisk version on tin whistle and at the other end of the tempo scale, Fiachra o Corragáin has a beautiful languid version on harp all available to watch on youtube. More information on the air from the Clare Library website here. http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/songs/cmc/easter_snow_jlyons.htm
The title however has nothing to do with Easter but is an anglicisation of an Irish placename in Co. Roscommon. The original name Diseart Nuadhan (St. Nuadha's Hermitage) evolved through Issertnowne to Estersnowe and now quite frequently Easter Snow. Christy Moore wrote a song titled Easter Snow as a tribute to Seamus Ennis.
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