Preview: Let's French Again Festival

Food, wine films all en francais coming our way next week. The Let's French Again Festival, runs from Tuesday  ton Saturday  in Waterford city.  Special event dinners take place in the French restaurants, L'Atmosphere and La Boheme and also at the Atheneum Hotel where the delightfully named chef, Jean Baptiste Dubois presides over the kitchen. I am looking forward to the films taking place in Greyfriars Gallery. A fairly recent animation flick opens the procedings on Tuesday and the teatime slot should suit younger viewers. My top pick though is  Saturday nights offering, described in this review as 'a pop art opera' with music by the wonderful Michel Legrand. All the films are FREE events.

Also on view next week is an exhibition of art work by 1980's graduates of WIT Art Department. Among the exhibitors are familiar names from the Waterford Arts scene -Ger Kennedy, Ben Hennessy, Jane O Brien Moran among the list of contributors to the display at the Mother of Pearl Tea Rooms in Tramore.

Note added Sunday 6th April: Apologies to any of my readers who turned up at Greyfriars on Saturday expecting to see the scheduled Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. To my chagrin, for  reasons I did not manage to ascertain, the film wasn't shown and an alternative choice was shown at the earlier time of 4pm. The change was unfortunately  not posted on the festival facebook page.  

Waterford Writers' Weekend

There wasa range of attractive events on the Waterford Writers Weekend programme  I missed most of them but did manage to get a flavour of one event. Liam Merriman was the MC of the Writers' Open Mic evening on Saturday night in Downes Pub. This is a great format and I enjoyed a variety of contributers  reading poems and prose on an array of topics from showband dancehall memories,  to thoughts on bereavement. Conor Nolan read Noel O Regan's  winning entry  in the Sean Dunne Writing Competition - a short story How to Defend against Vikings, picking up nicely on the Invader theme currently  in vogue in civic arts.
Special guest on the evening was Stephen James Smith, a performance poet who didn't so much read his lines as declaim them in a suitably theatrical manner that commanded attention. Check out his style in the video below.

**The evening closed with a set of his own songs by the MC for the evening,  Liam Merriman accompanied on bass by Nick Bankes and Damien MCDonnell on percussion.

**Post  amended 31/3/2014


Related Posts MY report on WWW 2011 http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2011/03/gadding-about-at-waterford-writers.html

 and 2012 http://cathydesmond.blogspot.ie/2012/03/writers-workshops-and-gourmands.html

Alpine Symphonies

I am just back from a week in Bavaria where in between soaking up the sunshine and  alpine scenery, I caught a performance by Wuppertal Sinfonie Orchestra at the Congress Hall in Garmisch Partenkirchen. Young violinist Tobias Feldman was a very sweet toned soloist in Mendelssohn's concerto but it was the dramatic contrasts in Bruckner's 4th Symphony that made the biggest impression.  Conductor Prof. Toshiyuki Kamioka had a rather dramatic podium style, almost doubling over in drawing the softest pianissimo.

 In the capital, every Munchener seemed to have downed tools and taken up positions at the pavement cafés and gardens . Nothing quite so cheerful as drinking beer to  the sound of waltzes and polkas played by a live oompah band.  It wasn't all sunshine and smiles though.  There were some grim violent scenes too. Not on the streets I hasten to add but on the set of the Bavarian State Opera production of Mussorgsky's Boris Gudonov updated to a contemporary setting. We caught up  with cast member Clare tenor , Dean Power now in his second year as a member of the Staatsoper Ensemble.

Ecco di Lorenza at Vogler's Jazz Club

Drawing Dan Foley 

Finally after a gap of five years we returned to Vogler's Jazz Bar in Munich.  We loved the mix of jazz standards dished up with a dollop of humour by vocalist, Ecco Di Lorenzo and a backing trio.

listen to ‘Brass band in Englischer Garden, Munich’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Spanish music Innsbruck ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Spanish music Innsbruck ’ on Audioboo

Jazz in Soho - Wallis & O'Rourke

Soho is always  hive of activity. Early morning sees the food delivery vans mysteriously and quietly dropping  their cargo of goodies across the various eateries. By night, the after-work hipster crowd linger beyond the planned quick pint-after-work and commute.

Pizza Express where Dean St. brushes Oxford St delivers live jazz most night with your favourite topping on a thin and crispy.

Wallis & O´Rourke

 It's a basement venue below a conventional pizza restaurant.

I secured the last of the tickets for the Larry Willis / David O'Rourke Quartet. You pay your entry fee, order a pizza and beverage  and enjoy the gig.

What a gig!. Larry Willis has a jazz pedigree that  must be head-wrecker for those who write programme notes. Simply, he's played with everybody and even had a stint with the '70's group Blood, Sweat  Tears.

Guitar player David O'Rourke is an Irishman based in the US. Originally from Malahide he was introduced as a orchestrator and arranger. He plays a mean jazz guitar in the Louis Stewart mould. After you get over his uncanny resemblance to Fergus Finlay  you realise how great a guitar player he is. The set list  was stuffed with  mellow easy listening and even included a snippet of Mountains of Mourne for the city that was in it!

To my liking, there was little chat during the set just a few brief intros and the music did the taking 

Stephen  Keogh played drums and Jeremy Browne on the bass completed the quartet.

Great concert and great pizza.

John Hartery  - Guest Blogger

Waterford Rhapsodies: The Backstrand and Lackendarra Jim

You know how it is. You wait ages for a WAM event and then two come along at once. I am using the acronym for that multifaceted style of event where live  musical accompaniment and projected artistic images are presented to enhance the spoken word of poetry and soliloquay. There were two such events on Sunday in Waterford. Both were quite absorbing in different ways and both took their inspiration from the county of Waterford.

In The Backstrand in Concert, Mark Roper read extracts of his poetry and prose from a recently published book, The Backstrand as images  by photographer, Paddy Dwan also from the book, were projected behind the speaker. The readings  were punctuated by interludes on electric  piano played by Eric Sweeney. The musical style was minimalist, unruffled, reminiscent  of Satie's Gymnopedies.
The aerial shots were stunning giving us a fresh perspective on a spectacular resource on our doorsteps.  The Garden Room in the Medieval Museum was full for the event with many staying on for the Tricolour ceremony in the afternoon.  You can hear the cheerful sound of the Thomas Francis Meagher Fife and Drum Band as heard on the day in the audioboo below

Eileen Hayes and Michael Power with director Shauna Farrell

Lackendarra Jim County Museum Archive 

Lackendarra Jim from Rigout Productions was an extended bilingual monologue accompanied by live music  telling the life story of a shell shocked WW1 veteran who lived  as a hermit  in the Comergh Mountains.  Paul Dillon's, Jim came over as a gentle  fragile creature as he recounted the poignant tale of a West Waterford childhood, his traumatic  experiences of  war and finally his  contentment in living a simple and solitary life in a cave near Cumshingaun Lake.

|A septet  circled the stage and provided an aural backdrop of improvised sound in a folk idiom. Added to piano, bass and drums were whistle, harmonica, guitars The presence of a  small shrutie box reminded  me that the ancient Greek rhapsodes recited the epic tales of the wanderings of Odysseus to lyre accompaniment. The musical activity did at times overpower the monologue and  were microphones for all players and actor necessary in such a small venue? Lorcan Reidy's low whistle stood out from the aural canvas.

The projected brightly coloured images from drawings by Mari Lynch picked  up the themes of natural beauty and the trauma of war. A silhouette in a foetal position rimmed in jagged red recalled the iconic cover of Brian Keenan's 'An Evil Cradling' .

The evening opened with a set from Rua , an acapella vocal trio featuring  Cliona Lily and her cousins Cathy and Treasa Forristal. The ladies  had a very pleasing and secure vocal sound in a set of traditional and modern Irish songs. They seemed more comfortable singing than  in navigating the stage banter aspect of performing and appeared to take cover behind a tall music stand.

There was a clubby atmosphere in the venue which was sold out for the two night run with a gathering of friends and supporters.  The post show theatre chatter  went on long after the show in Jordans Bar where Eileen Hayes and Michael Power reminisced about Lackendarra Jim from their own childhood experience of growing up in the Comeraghs.

 Jordan's Rigout is a collective of players that  jam regularly in Jordan's Bar  on Tuesday nights. The style is eclectic, with an emphasis on  Blues, Americana and Irish folk. There is always plenty of fine  instrumentals and vocals and  tends to build to a good old fashioned sing a long towards the end of the night. On a recent visit, Paul Dillon's rousing rendition of 'Smoke that Cigarette' brought everyone to their feet.

Players in Jordan's  rise to support Paul Dillon in The Smoking Song

listen to ‘Thomas Francis Meagher Fife and Drum Band at 2014 Tricolour Ceremony’ on Audioboo

Romantic Cello Classics at Christchurch

Annette Cleary plays 3rd movement Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata

What a splendid instrument, the cello is.  No shrill screeching from high E strings and perfect for the lush Romantic repertoire. Taking a line from Beethoven's love letters, Annette Cleary together with pianist Rachel Quinn, delivered a virtuoso programme titled 'Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever ours' at Christchurch tonight.  The playing was vigorous committed, the sonority rich and expressive. no more so than in the lyrical movement of a Rachmaninoff sonata.

The Waterford venue in the heart of the Viking Triangle was not far from where I first met Annette.  She and her sister Nicola were a star turn at the annual students concert in the Waterford Municipal Theatre.

Three small pieces, Webern
Cello Sonata No3 in A 0pus 69 Beethoven
Irish Airs 
Chopin Waltzes 
Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata G mi op 19
The Swan Saint Saens 

Poetic Licence: Attacca Quartet at Christchurch

Effective  lighting  for Attacca at Christchurch 

The Attacca Quartet are on an Irish  tour at the moment and I enjoyed hearing them last night at Christchurch Cathedral Waterford on the second evening of a six date tour. You can read a report of the opening concert on the Irish Times blog here. The  playing was very fine indeed  and they were an attractive looking group on the dramatically  lit platform in  the elegant backdrop of the 18th century interior.

Christ Church Cathedral rocked tonight with a wonderful Attacca Quartet. World class young musicians who talked to their audience
— LIAM MURPHY (@liammunster) February 28, 2014

Unfortunately I got caught by the early start time and missed the opening work by Adams. I think early start times and tea time / afternoon recitals are a great idea particularly on weekends but they do need to be flagged more actively  particularly when all other times in the tour are at the more conventional 8pm.

I loved the addition of a spoken element to the proceedings and it was refreshing to hear sound of well modulated accents from the other side of the Atlantic. There were subsantial  programme notes from Liam Cagney. Here is what he has to say about the 4th movement  of 'Intimate Letters'. Janacek's passionate paean to a beloved younger woman.
'The final movement, gliding on erotic impulse, expresses the composer's fear that he might 'bind your feet like a pretty little lamb' ;though the finale eventually ends triumphantly'  Judge for youself.  Here is a clip of the Attacca Quartet playing the finale of their 'Poetic Licence' programme

The Attacca Quartet are at the Triskel  Arts Centre in Cork tonight  (Note at 8pm) and Wexford tomorrow afternoon.  Tour locations and dates here 



Venue Notes : I loved the subdued lighting in the body of the church. It added much to the experience. The accoustic of the 18th century stone building suited the dimensions of an unamplified chamber ensemble and the string sonority was rich and warm. The setting of the vocal microphone sounded off. The vocal clarity was not as sharp as it might  be. I was conscious of this also at a recent talk here.

Waterford 1100 Talks: From Ballybricken to Belgravia

As part of the Waterford 1100 celebrations, Waterford Treasures has initiated a series of talks from high profile speakers on  life in Waterford over the last millenium. Tonight following a civic reception, Irish Ambassador in London, Dan Mulhall gave a insightful and eloquent address to a full house at City Hall.  He was introduced by Curator Eamonn McEneaney who gave a local historical perspective referring to illustrious ambassadors over the centuries. William Wyse, he informed us  represented Waterford affairs in the court of Henry VIII and Luke Wadding had an interesting diplomatic career, we learned, representing Spain at the Vatican. He acknowledged the sponsors of the series, Liam and Ann Cusack of the Granville Hotel who were in the audience for the occasion.

Opening with a cupla focail as Gaeilge, Mulhall began by sketching in some details from his biography from a conventional Irish childhood growing up on the Yellow Road, schooldays at Mount Sion CBS, summers of playing football and working in Clover Meats and the Jute Factory, an Arts degree at UCC before securing a place as 3rd secretary at Foreign Affairs.

He went on to talk about his various postings in several continents. He spoke about specific changes and   how much the world and process of diplomacy has changed. He recalled for us living in an era of instant global communication,  the time when the only reports from home arrived in a diplomatic bag and 'cut and paste' was meant literally. He set a broader context  of representing Irish interests abroad referring to the changes in global  economic canvas, the reduction in scale of violence in Northern Ireland, the reality of the Cold War politics and the importance of the German economy and its language in Europe. The diplomat advocated the value of social media and in particular Twitter as a tool in the communication strategy of a modern day ambassador. He spoke also about his pride and pleasure in seeing the improvements in his native city on his frequent trips home to his native city.

There was a lengthy Q&A  during which the diplomat fielded all manner of queries from international politics and how to get on the diplomatic ladder but declined to be drawn on expressing any less than  charitable opinions on any of the politicians with whom he had engaged. Quite a gala occasion, and  the evening closed with refreshments served in the Waterford  Medieval Museum, one of the architectural gems in the Viking Triangle.

Tall Tales from the Crypt : There was a resonance with the speaker at the first of the Waterford 1100 talks. Both Mulhall and Pat Wallace, retired director of the National Museum credited the serendipity of securing their first job to pals who waved a newspaper advert at them and cajoled  them into applying. Wallace, now retired entertained us with yarns and anecdotes from his decades of
working for the National Museum and as site director of Wood Quay.  It was quite a  different style of address,  free from the circumspection required of a working diplomats but it was highly entertaining.  It was touching that of all the wonderful artefacts he has come across, it was the written word that moved him most. The sight of his grandmother's handwriting and the 18th century livery notebooks of a Limerick stable offering coach transport  ( The Michael O Leary of his day as Wallace put it) thrilled him as much as the most glittering trophy artifact in the museum cabinets. How about that! Spare a thought for the historians of the future as they root through corrupted discs and memory sticks. There is something to be said for tablets of the stone variety.

The next talk takes place on 24th March when the speaker will be RTE South Eastern correspondent Damien Tiernan

Lunchtime History Bites: 15 minutes of history on the some aspect of the museum every Weds 1.15pm

Check Waterford Treasures website for details

Related Posts : Galvanized Goldberg in the Viking Triangle 

                         Proms Debut for Irish Trio

                         Climbing the Walls at Spraoi

                         Irish Classical Artists Shine on London Scene

Symphonic Paean to Wexford Lifeboat Heroes

My review of this concert appears in The Irish Examiner on Wednesday 25th February. A fuller account of the evening is presented here.

Wexford Sinfonia: Heroes of the Helen Blake  
composed and conducted by Liam Bates 

On brave white horses that rise and charge,
Aloft the heaving breast of the way-ward deep,
T'ward weary ships and solemn hearts:
Make fast my bond, make fast my pledge to keep.....

Beat  hard the waves that drape my sense.
God's light, my compass ever be.
                                          Liam Bates

1 The Hymn and the Sea Shanty
2 Strength and Grace
3 Courage and Peril
4 Vale of Tears
5 To Bring Them Home 

It was a compelling  evening, brimming with emotion  as Wexford Sinfonia  premiered a new composition by Liam Bates to a capacity house at County Hall.  Among the elements,  there was the sombre sense of time and place. The event marked the centenary of the sinking of Norwegian vessel, The Mexico off the Wexford coast and the loss of nine lives among the local lifeboat crew who went to aid the stricken vessel. As a prelude we heard  author, Eoin Colfer reading from his late father's account of the epic tragedy.

The work for large  symphony orchestra in five movements was full of colour and drama written in a rich, post Romantic,  film score style.  The parallels with Vaughan Williams are apparent in the use of sea shanties throughout the movements.  The chorale like hymn tune, Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star features as the  main theme of the first movement and is echoed in later movements. The second movement is calmer opening with the clear textures of a solo clarinet line  set against scurrying string motifs and  delicate harp accompaniment. The most distinctive aspect of the orchestration was the unusual battery of percussion instruments assembled that create the dark menacing mood of  the third movement. In addition to the standard kit of assorted drums and tubular bells, we heard the clang of a  ships  propeller, old metal plates and a ship's bell rang out several times through the work.  Bass drum rolls and a poignant horn solo evoke the 'Vale of Tears' in the 4th movement.  There were resonances with Scandinavian composers in the low growling bass lines set against high tremolo strings.  In the final movement.  a male voice choir rose to sing a simple unison setting of the composer's own poem on  the theme before violins took over with a lyrical passage before the sound dissipated with an eerie single high tremolo note on upper strings.
By any standards, this is exciting and well crafted symphonic writing, teeming with ideas that deserves further airing on a national platform. Though  strong enough to stand on its' own merit, it would make great material for projected animation  project.

The players of the Wexford Sinfonia were fully up to the demands of the collage like score. There was much to enjoy also in their account of the opening pair of Grieg's  Peer Gynt Suites echoing the Norwegian theme . Brass and wind fared better in the acoustic of the T shaped space. All the solo lines could be clearly heard but the the full string sections lacked the strength of volume you might expect from the ample numbers

At the close, audience rose to their feet in sustained and heartfelt applause and  took some time to disperse as players and listeners mingled to savour the event. Bearers of inherited medals for bravery issued by the King of Norway and uniquely by the GAA  proudly  posed for photos with composer, Liam Bates.

It was appropriate that we stepped into wind and rain as we left the building, a reminder of the elements faced by those people in every coastal town who bravely  go to the aid of those in distress at sea. This was a fitting paean of praise to them.

Here's some voices from the event. Click in 'Read More' for more voices and Venue Notes

listen to ‘Composer Liam Bates on 'Heroes Of the Helen Blake' ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Leader of  Wexford Sinfonia, Teresa Doyle ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Wexford Sinfonia Percussionist’ on Audioboo


Venue Notes: I had some trouble finding the venue, a brand new glass and concrete rectangular structure  which is quite a distance out of town. (Whatever was the local council thinking?) With a long corridor like foyer space, there was inevitably  poor visibility for most of the 500 hundred or so attendees.  Wexford town seemed very quiet as I drove through on Saturday night. I gather the magnificent Opera House built at enormous public expense was dark that evening One would have thought that  the venue might have been made available at marginal cost for such an occasion.

Photo via Wexford Sinfonia Facebook page

Examiner article by Jo Kerrigan here

Freud's Last Session in the Lone Star State

Guest Blogger John Hartery

The Alley Theatre nestles against the skyscrapers of Downtown Houston. It's a little oasis from the world of oil barons as they discuss the latest rise and fall in the price of the liquid commodity.

There's a real community once you enter the door and it has a feel of passionate volunteers protecting the art form of live theatre. There was extraordinary courtesy from first greeting to the gentleman who shepherded my group of standby ticket holders to the last of the seats on a busy Saturday night.




Before the performance a gentleman advised the audience of the Alley's plans for a major refurbishment costing $73million (read it and weep Irish theatres!). The refurbishment is aimed at maintaining the theatre's position as 'the foremost regional theatre in the country'.




The play I was was just in time to see was 'Freud's Last Case' written by Mark St Germain and directed by Tyler Marchant and is a two-hander. The piece was new to me and was first premiered in 2009 . It has played to a run of over 700 performances in New York City.






The plot concerns an imagined meeting in 1938 between the psychoanalyst and CS. Lewis the author. Britain is on the brink of war and the radio broadcasts of chamberlain pepper the stage action.

The work is staged in the round in a stupendous set (Brian Prather) - a drawing room compete with a range of miniature religious artworks that Freud has collected. The action is compact at an hour and a half or so and concerns dialogue between the two characters about religion, politics and life in the prevailing climate. Freud as an atheist is in contrast to the believer Lewis and they debate their positions. The Freud character is giving the best lines and cracks a few fine jokes full of wordplay. What's clear is that Freud is close to death and suffering from a dreadful illness that is realistically and vicerally played by James Black. Jay Sullivan played  the enthusiastic professor excellently as he brought the enthusiasm of youth against the elderly and wiser counterpart. A great night and the Alley is on my list of things to revisit in Houston, if only to see how they spend that $73 million.






Alley Theatre, Downton Houston