Celebro Laudibus : Limerick Ensembles at UCH

  Celebro , laudibus, Ring the bells, Time to celebrate
                         
Two Limerick community ensembles presented their seasonal  musical offerings at UCH this weekend .  On Saturday night the University of Limerick Orchestra welcomed  trombone player Karl Ronan who shone  in an  an attractive concerto by Rimsky Korsakov.  There was a sense of camaraderie between the soloist and conductor, both former members of the Artane Boys  Band. Conductor  Liam Daly was a  authoritative presence on the podium and drew a disciplined performance from the orchestra. There were no ragged edges as a sense of unity prevailed across all sections. Neither was there any paring down in any section with symphony proportions of wind and brass and a full complement of percussion added sparkle to the programme. After the interval, Limerick Youth Choir performed a short set of  Carol of the Bells , a Russian Hymn and a brace of Julie Feeney numbers before the concert concluded with popular Christmas repertoire.

David Howes in rehearsal with Malcolm Greene

On Sunday night, Limerick Choral Union presented a blend of Baroque and contempory in a programme of  two of their bread and butter composers. LCU provides a great platform for young rising stars and the soloist in Handel's Dettingen Te Deum was bass, David Howes, one of three  generations of Howes singing with this community choir on this occasion  Soprano,  Roisin Walshe was soloist in Jenkins seasonal cantata Stella Natalis, a very attractive work with Jenkin's trademark mix of ethnic percussion, odd metres and glorious melodies. Lee Butler's jazz infused solo trumpet was thrilling. The composer himself describes the distinctive elements in the video below. A splendid pair of trumpets  (Rick Cowen and Niall O'Sullivan) struck the key celebratory note in the Handel, Te Deum composed in a spirit of  rejoicing and jubilation in a British victory over a French Army at the Battle of Dettingen. Bravo to both LCU and ULO for a suitably festive and joyous weekend of music making  in Limerick.  I enjoyed both events, the first from a seat in the stalls and the second as a player. Plans have been announced for a joint Prom Concert  between both these community ensembles. Mark 11th May in your diary. It promises to be 'only heavenly music'

Related posts
A Handel for the President LCU review
LCU Christmas 2010
German Requiem auf Deutsche ! LCU

Galvanised Goldberg in Viking Triangle- The Irish Baroque Orchestra at Waterford Harvest Festival

Cathedral and new Waterford Treasures Museum 

There was a party atmosphere in Waterford as the Harvest Festival drew to a close. After an afternoon of picnicing in the park being entertained by the Barrack Street Band, you  could  feast like a Viking on the Quay or hear the Irish Baroque Orchestra in the elegant classical interior of Christchurch Cathedral  . I have remarked in previous posts on the confluence of architectural elegance in  this part of the South Eastern capital, with the  polished architectural gems, the Theatre Royal and Bishop's Palace and Christchurch Cathedral  all located in this corner.  The area referred to as the Viking Triangle has been further enhanced with the addition of a wonderful new building, tucked in snugly behind the Cathedral with a visually stunning  curved ediface in creamy Bath stone marking  the entrance to the new Medieval Museum.

Welcomed to the podium at Christchurch Cathedral by Liam Daly, the new administrator of the Symphony Club of Waterford, 

Huggett at the Helm     photo B Childers

the IBO under their director, Monica Huggett brought  an unusual  musical offering -a twenty year old string adaptation of JS Bach's Goldberg Variations. Originally for harpsichord, the set of 30 variations on an Italianate aria was supposedly composed for a Count prone to insomnia and named for the young player  in his employ. The work was popularised for 20th century audiences by Canadian pianist, Glen Gould's legendary recording of the work.  For this performance, the variations were split in half with an interval between.  30 variations might seem like rather a lot for a single timbre of strings to bear for one evening but there was plenty of variety in the skillful arrangement and  all the crisp and clean articulation and melodic canons were clearly heard in the accoustically friendly, intimate venue -just right for the assembly.




The ensemble were arranged in a  concertino quartet, a solo player to each part   with opposing  violin sections  in front  with ripieno  desk behind . The first violin and viola were adjacent  to facilitate the many interweaving duet lines between the two, with continuo section of cello and harpsichord  at the heart of the ensemble.

The playing was first class but what made the evening compelling was the verve and enthusiasm emanating from dynamic leader Monica Huggett.  Frequently she swept her instrument in a 180 degree arc as if in a an effort to simultaneously draw her audience into the fold and at the same time galvanise her troops into action  . One could sense the crackle of energy  from the tip   of her Baroque bow  as she drew gutsy performances from her bakers dozen of  players supported throughout by  David Adams solid continuo lines.

  But hadn't Bach written tons of  ensemble music,  so what  I asked her was the appeal of this relatively new arrangement of a harpsichord  piece for string players?   From a practical  standpoint, apart from the  3rd Brandenberg Concerto , there is relatively little in Bach's output it seems purely for strings and  leaving aside for the moment any aesthetic consideration, the arrangement  by Sitkovetsky , a conductor laureate of the Ulster Orchestra is a valuable  addition  to the repertoire.    That, and the piece is just so exhiliarating and so much fun  for  string players to play, she added '  Looking at Ms Huggett leading  her revved up Baroque band , I can well believe it!  I could cheerfully  have  sat and listened to the whole work again. Bravo IBO!

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Related articles


Cathy's Reviews Early Evening French Baroque Music form IBO  Christchurch

A rather lovely mention for IBO in New Yorker Music Critic, Alex Ross's memorable moments round up for 2010 . Praise indeed!

Article on Vikram Seth's An Equal Music including discussion of quartet arrangement of Art of Fugue

Everything you could want to know about Glen Gould and his two iconic recordings of those variations in Tom Service'  article in the Guardian  http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/20/glenn-gould-wilfully-idiotic-genius?newsfeed=true

Word of the day (from IBO rehearsals) =OOMPHY.As in.. "this variation should be more OOMPHY.Like, with extra oomph!" Hilarious! :)
— Irish Baroque (@IrishBaroque) September 12, 2012

Early evening French Baroque Music at Christchurch

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Although Ireland has had its own baroque period orchestra for sometime now, I had not heard this ensemble and I was looking forward to finally hearing  members of the Irish Baroque Orchestra under their artistic director and Grammy nominee Monica Huggett.  I went along to their tea-time performance at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford.  Regrettably, I shall have to wait for another occasion to hear Huggett..  (If the PR material trails  a high profile performer, is it not reasonable that there is at  least an  announcement of a change of  cast?)

There were no programme notes but items were eloquently introduced by Lisa Beznosiuk who acted as leader.  The most vibrant aspect of the performance was David Adam's hapsichord  painted in vivid  peppermint green  embellished with eyecatching geometric shapes. As for the music by French early baroque composers Couperin, Rameau and Marais, I found the selection a bit dull and the playing overall a bit  clinical  and lacking in bite particulary from the strings. This may of course have something to do with my lack of familiarity with the baroque instrument timbre  but I can't say I was won over to early baroque instrumental music. I have on  rare opportunities enjoyed the different sound palette that period instruments have added to baroque opera performances but while the playing was polished and assured, I did not feel the players engaged particularly well with each other, seeming very focused on their own individual parts.

Tea time seems like a very good time to have a short performance. There was a relatively small turnout although the idea of combining a ticket with local restaurant offer seemed like a good one.  Local cognoscenti in the audience included  Liam Daly, newly appointed as conductor of University of Limerick Orchestra and his wife Maureen of Barrack Street Concert Band and flautist  Gerry Dower