Far Flung Trio at the Theatre Royal

Malachy Robinson : The Far Flung Trio Tour 2016 from Culturefox.tv on Vimeo.

Bach Sonata no 2 in A major
Kreisler La Folia Variations
Klezmer tunes inc Hava Nagi
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody
Bach Toccata & Fugue in D minor acc solo
Piazzola Two Tangos arr Wiebecke-Gottstein
C&W no Why Did You Leave Me
Edith Piaf La Vie en Rose Hymne l'Amour. L'Accordeoniste
Offenbach Overture to Orpheus
Encore: Cinema Paradiso theme Morricone

The Far Flung Trio finished their 2016 tour at the Theatre Royal, Waterford last night where they presented an eclectic entertaining set of repertoire. The bijou dimensions of the Victorian theatre suited the compact ensemble. The acoustic was fine and no amplification was required. Most of it worked very well. The folk origins of Liszt's  Hungarian Rhapsody were more apparent than in the virtuoso piano version. Dunne's arrangement of a famous Bach toccata reminded us that the accordion is essentially a portable organ. The only number that left me wanting more was the one that the trio did not arrange themselves. Piazzola demands the wheeze of a plaintive  reed evoking the spirit of an Argentinian  bandoneon. Spirited as the string duo rendition was , it lacked that vital colour. Robinson, a recent addition to the Hunka/ Dunne  duo proved his versatility in adding a vocals to a Buck Owens Country & Western number and a devilish  triangle to the Offenbach.

Too late to catch them on this tour but Theatre Royal has booked another chamber ensemble for April 16th. The Esposito Quartet with members drawn from the Irish Chamber Orchestra and RTE CO will perform work by their namesake, Schubert and Haydn.
http://www.theatreroyal.ie/events/esposito

More chamber music  recitals in March April via Waterford-Music who present Trio di Parma  and Chloe Hanslip with  Danny Driver upstairs in the Georgian Large Room. 

 

 

Waterford Music in the Large Room

I rarely buy tickets in advance for concerts preferring not to commit myself until the last moment. The early booker is not rewarded and is sometimes penalised by extra booking fees on top of the the ticket prices and there is always the chance of discounted tickets for performances with a low turnout.  Arts centres might do better to go for the budget airline model where early bookers can snap up the cheapest deal with roll ups paying the full whack.  However I broke the habit of a lifetime and took out a family subscription for the Waterford Music chamber music series. Why? Well of course I wanted to support performances of top class artists in Waterford  but what made me whip out my cheque book was that the subscription was fantastic value at €140 for 8 concerts for two people, offering  greater than 50% discount on the door price.

http://www.waterford-music.org/events.html

To date we have heard three concerts.  Contemporary  Dublin Guitar Quartet were followed by a Baroque programme by  Camerata Kilkenny .
Last night the newly appointed RTE String Quartet, The Contempo Quartet presented two distinct elements in a programme of standard Classical string quartet repertoire and  Argentinian tango. The storms and squalls of  a Beethoven Quartet in F minor were followed by golden beams  of Haydn's Sunrise Quartet. A short piece written for the quartet by Jane O Leary featured an array of modern playing effects. In the absence of programme notes, cellist Adrian Mantu and Dermot Dunne introduced the items .  The Contempo play with such a bristling energy and panache, they are always good to watch and hear. They had just the right sort of Latin edge for the collaboration with Dunne on five pieces by  Piazzola although at times they overpowered the accordion particularly in the opening number. Particularly lovely was the sultry third piece with muted strings  So beguiling was this combination of accordion and luscious strings  that I would love to have heard more and could happily haver listened to them all over again. Wonderful and all as it was to hear Haydn and Beethoven so superbly performed, it did seem a waste to have a virtuoso accorddionist sitting on his hands in the audience for the larger part of the evening.You can hear one of the pieces in the video below .

There are five concerts remaining and concerts take place on Thursday evenings in the elegant Georgian Room in City Hall. Next concert features another combination of top notch musicians -cellist Guy Johnston, Katherine Hunka (Leader ICO) and Hugh Tinney. Pianist Michael McHale with clarinettist Michael Collins and Joanne McGregor are all down for later dates. It is fantastic to have these artists perform on or doorstep.  I recommend this series highly.