60th Birthday Recital:Melodies of the Silver Screen

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 4^th September 2022

Cathy Desmond -Violin & Marian Ingoldsby -Piano

Guest  Tenor John Drohan

Programme

·         Humoresque; Dvorak                                         1947 Humoresque

·         Romanze; Shostakovich                                     1955 The GADFLY  

·         Salut d’Amour; Elgar                                           1962  Elgar (dir Ken Russell)

·         Windmills of Your Mind;  Legrand                   1968 The Thomas Crown Affair    -

·         Loss of Love ; Henry Mancini                             1970 Sunflower         

·         Speak Softly Love; Nino Rota                             1972 The Godfather

·         Lara’s Theme;  Maurice  Jarre                           1965 Dr Zhivago

·         Theme Schindler’s List; John Williams             1993 Schindler’s List

·         Por Una Cabeza; Carlos Gardel                          2002 Scent of a Woman

·         Theme; Nigel Hess                                                2004 Ladies in Lavender

·         New Commission; Ingoldsby:                            2022 Doneraile Saunter (working title)

·         The Marino Waltz; J Sheahan                              1987 The Peat Briquette Ads TV

T     Poem The Fiddlemaker's Workshop  by J Sheahan  read by Daniel Foley for Mark Keenan

·         Czardas; Monti                                                       1984 Unfaithfully Yours

·         Ashokan Farewell; Jay Ungar                               1991  Ken Burns PBS The Civil War

 

Silver Screen Selection ViolinCat: Youtube Playlist: www.shorturl.at/ejL19

Clips from the films that inspired tonight’s programme.