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.
I am just in from seeing a preview of Rough Magic's latest production. Famished Castle, a new play by Hilary Fannin will be premiered tomorrow, Friday 8th May at the Theatre Royal Waterford.
The play takes it's title from a sean fhocal quoted by Enda Kenny in a speech delivered on the inauguration of Michael D Higgins as president. Is fearr botháin biathar ná caisleán gortach. (Better a cabin with food than a famished castle). The drama hinges on a strained Bergmanesque family drama that fuses bitter elements of death, frailty, betrayal, bleakness and insanity, laced with enough tongue-in-cheek humour to make the bitter cocktail palatable. Through this prism, characters offer sharp observations and wry commentary on the changes in post Celtic Tiger Irish society. 'A flawed family in a flawed country' as observed by Ciaran O'Neill in his programme note. I was reminded of the returned emigrants from European countries that I met living in a country village that had been rapidly transformed to suburban Dublin, Baffled by the Ireland they met , several returned to Europe as soon as they could.
The high point of the drama is a flashback to a fraught family gathering where a young couple Nat (Ray Scannell) and Angie( Aislin McGuckian) are out to dinner with Nat's parents Tom (Vinnie McCabe), a garrulous property developer and his acerbic wife, Trixie whom Tom dubs the Mother Teresa of Sauvignon. Later Nat is forced to revisit his past when compelled to return from abroad to care for Tom and witnesses how society has changed . There are strong convincing performances from the quatet. I particularly enjoyed Trixie's (Eleanor Mentven's) withering retorts, sharply written and crisply delivered. Staging was simple but effective. The lighting design produced some dramatic effects on a diaphanous curtain backdrop. (At the preview, Angie seemed a little under-dressed for the occasion)
Original music and sound design by Denis Clohessy made much use of marimba type percussion and created a dream-like ephemeral soundscape .
Following the performance, there was a Q&A with director and author chaired by Una Healy. The author's links with Red Kettle was explored. They spoke about the creative process and the emergence of Rough Magic in the 80's in a wave of new independent theatre groups in Temple Bar. They expressed genuine delight in the venue, the bijou Theatre Royal itself.
The quality of writing in the dialogue, the sharp observation and the convincing portrayal of well drawn characters with an original score made this an engaging theatrical experience
It is quite a feat for visiting artists who are not household names to respectably fill any but the smallest venues in Irish towns and cities on a midweek night and it was good to see the Theatre Royal, Waterford packed to capacity on Tuesday night. The draw was Slovakian violin virtuoso, Vladimir Jablokov who brought his travelling Viennese Christmas extravaganza to Waterford for fourth consecutive year. Accompanied by an ensemble including family members with soloists, soprano Claudia Boyle and tenor, Sean Costello, the fare was light and sparkling- musical miniatures with seasonal carols and popular standards. 'I hope you heard what you expected to hear tonight' said the dynamic polka prince clad in proper concert meister attire-natty tails and shiny shoes. Judging by the reponse, the formula of musical pops laced with down home folksy charm- a whiff of the Waltons tempered with the spirit of the von Trapps -, went down a treat with this audience, most of whom were repeat attendees.
The programme was book ended with Viennese marches and interspersed with polkas and waltzes. The vocal element opened with a duet -Vienna, City of my Dreams, familiar from the recordings of Richard Tauber. There was a nod to more modern repertoire in a 20th century carol, The Road to Bethlehem by British composer Michael Head and the Irish tradition was represented by the Wexford Carol both beautifully delivered by rising international star Claudia Boyle. I was surprised to see microphones set up as had the doors been open, both singers could have been heard on the Quay without the aid of amplification.
Claudia Boyle Rising International Opera Star
The audience weren't slow to join in with waltzes by Lehar, Kalman and Strauss. This is after all the city that hosted an international light opera festival for many years. I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the decade in my lifetime when Viennese operettas were much in vogue and a string quartet was the norm in the pit band. Indeed, I cut my musical teeth on this repertoire and enjoyed many nights of vamping along to schmaltzy waltzes for local musical societies in this theatre.
The second half opened with a stringent pinch of Prokofiev and it was good to hear the viola feature after all the high treble Strauss violin lines. A minor criticism, is that generally, the arrangements did not fully exploit the cello and viola player and volume level on the electric piano were at times a little too heavy. Like a house party, each family member did a turn. Olga Jablokov impressively tossed off a difficult piano part of a Disneyesque arrangement of Sleigh Ride as a mere trifle. The singers let their hair down with more popular repertoire and these consummate operatic artists proved their versatility adapting their style to suit the popular numbers. There were shades of Marilyn Monroe in Claudia's delivery of Santa Baby' in an eye popping red dress and Sean would have given the 'Velvet Fog' a run for his money in his relaxed and easy delivery of Mel Tormé's Christmas song.
Terrific and all as the singers were, my highlights in the second half were the instrumental numbers. Patriarch, Alexander Jablokov played variations on a traditional Russian folksong. Vladimir and brother Anton had a lot of fun with their jazzy improvised duet version of Mariah Carey's pop hit, All I Want for Christmas. There was a pause for moments of serenity when Mother and son Andrew presented a duet arrangement of Schubert's Avé Maria.
In this period theatrical space there was a sense of the charm of a Victorian music hall musical evening as Vladimir did a bit of circulating around the stalls to serenade individuals. It was old fashioned light music entertainment done with skill and charm and the audience lapped it up.
Vladimir Jablokov is an excellent player but he combines skill with an unabashed showmanship that is quite refreshing in a classical artist. His collaborating artists clearly enjoy working with him. Moreover he appears to have an astute sense of the whole business of marketing and building an audience. We also liked that the set list was available free of charge without having to buy a programme. Catch him at his last gigs on this tour in Enniskillen and Cork
Viennese Christmas Set List 1 Dostal Flieger Marsch J Strauss, Annen Polka Sieczynski Vienna City of My Dreams Duet Strauss 11 Czardas Die Fledermaus Boyle Vejvoda Rosamunde Polka Lehar Merry Widow Waltz Duet Kalman Ianzen Mocht Ich(Music Playing Gypsy Princess) Duet M Head Little Road to Bethlehem Claudia trad In Dulci Jubilo Gruber Silent Night Strauss Tritsch Tratsch polka strauss 11 Prokofiev Troika Dammicco / Bembo When a Child is Born Sean Leroy Anderson Sleigh Ride Featuring Olga piano Wexford Carol Claudia Afanasieff/ Carey All I Want for Christmas Vlad / Anton Kudasheva The Forest raised a Christmas Tree arr Victor Jablokov solo Alexander Schubert Ave Maria Mrs. Jablokov Torrme Christmas Song Sean Javits/ Springer Santa Baby Claudia Strauss 11 Blue Danube Strauss 1 Radetsky March Encore Brahms Hungarian Dance 5 Anton / Vlad Encore 2
‘There is a moment in every childhood when the door to the
future opens and for me that moment was hearing Edith Piaf . No other voice
spoke to me like hers did’. So said Glaswegian chanseuse Christine Bovill on hearing Piaf on a gifted vinyl record in the course of her homage to the Queen of chanson realiste at the Theatre
Royal Waterford last night. The format which by all accounts wowed festival
goers in Edinburgh was relatively unsophisticated There was no fancy lighting or projected
images just the singer dressed in black , a pianist and the Piaf songbook peppered
with spoken biographical and contextual programme notes. It was interesting that Ms Bovill was converted from detesting the language to being an ardent francophile through the songs. A singer who doesn't
depend merely on beauty of tone even though she has a lovely smoky contralto
voice, perfect for jazz.. Clearly passionate about the French texts she did justice to the dramatic and poetic elements in the songs.
She was wonderfully well supported in her task by her pianist, Michael Roulston . All the best known ones were in the set but also some not so commonly heard ones. I loved the treatment of La Foule with its' heavy vamping bass line. In contrast Mon Dieu was given a simple no frills fervent hymn like treatment.
Michael Roulston
While
it would have been lovely to hear such an accomplished pianist on a strung piano, I have to admit the
electric model used didn’t sound too bad and generally the amplification was subtle and effective. I love this repertoire and include several Piaf melodies in my own salon set and
thoroughly enjoyed the evening. My only caveat was that she might have used the considerable resource of her accompanist to add an instrumental interlude here and there as it was quite demanding on her sung and spoken voice.
You can catch this beguiling evening at Limerick Millenium Theatre and the Source Arts Centre in Thurles on 26th and 27th September. Allez Allez, C'est si bon!
In the BBC Radio4 series Soul Music, Christine Bovill talks about the song Je ne Regret Rien. Included in the programme is Norman Lamont talking about his brush with the legendary song. Listen here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01c7pqb
Venue Notes
There was a lot of events in the quarter on Thursday evening. The red carpet was out at City Hall for a Ladies fashion event. In the giant marquee in Lombard St, the Pearly Whites were jumping up and down in their lively party set again
to a somewhat subdued midweek audience. We have to say that the audience didn't fill the auditorium but would have filled the 50 seater Central Hall . I note the this is one of two French Chanson themed
evenings in Waterford this month with Caroline Moreau playing in Garter Lane later. One wonders how much much liaison there is between the major arts venues in planning
programmes. A festival atmosphere prevailed in town as marquees
and fancy bunting adorned the Mall for the Harvest Festival. I couldn’t
understand why this event wasn’t incorporated into the Harvest Festival programme and
marketed under that banner. It would seem that there are opportunities for more synergy with regular scheduled events. The event would
have lent itself nicely to a French cheese and wine soirée in the foyer for instance
. And is it really so hard to paper the
show to create more of an an ambiance. Where was
the Alliance Francaise. Where were the
students of French either 2nd or 3rd level. Isn’t there a third
level college in town ?
Jordan's American Bar Study Hall, De La Salle College The Church- United Presbyterian and Methodist Churc, Patrick St. Theatre Royal
Power White, & Dower at Jordon's
What's rare is wonderful and a Francie White gig is a rarity ocurring once a year like some unusual arrangement of stars . The performance by this well known local artist was one of the highlights of Imagine 2010 and we looked forward to a repeat performance. On this occasion he was accompanied by Dunmore East based guitar player Gerry Power and bass player Michael Dower. There was quite a mellow vibe to the evening with the audience willingly crooning along with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and John Martyn numbers with Piaf's Autumn Leaves a real hit with the audience and good dollops of blues to shake it up a bit. There was much to enjoy both in the vocals and the skillful guitar accompaniment of Power who sang a John Prine number himself. Jordan's is a tight venue as less than twenty gig goers can occupy the space where you can see the performers and it was the smallest of the destinations I attended over the weekend.
De La Salle Entrance
Eibhear Walshe
The lofty study hall of De La Salle College was chosen particularly for its resonance with the past for former student Éibhear Walshe who read from his memoir, Cissie's Abbatoir, a rare account of growing up in Waterford in the 60's and 70's. The Saturday morning audience audience included family members, teachers and old school pals who took the opportunity to search the walls for photographs oftheir images from the past. Eibhear spoke about the buildings as the starting point for constructing his memoir where most of his locations are visible form the spot where we were assembled.
The best thing about the Katie Kim gig at The Church in Patrick St was the venue. The subdued lighting created a late night feel for perfomances by Burrows and Katie Kim's band. The fairy lights all along the sides were a nice touch and the enormous window must surely be one of the most impressive in the town's many fine buildings. and venue was well filled with an enthusiastic audience with admission attractively priced at €10. I felt the amplification robbed her voice of it's best qualities and reverb effects were overdone. Leaving aside the considerable technical problems that beset the performance, my impression was that that the artist was wrestling with her equipment and not always winning, diverting her energy away from conveying the message in her songs.
Gateway to The Church at Patrick St
The striking backdrop of the newly exposed city walls in the Theatre Royal set the stage for Penguin Café the reconstitution of legendary ground breaking ensemble Penguin Cafe Orchestra and quite a coup for the organising committee to have brought them to Waterford for the Imagine Festival this year. Most people in the audience were card carrying fans with well worn recordings of PCO in their collection.
Arthur Jeffe has assembled a diverse multi-instrumental ensemble to recreate the work of his late father Simon Jeffe who created a quirky style of purely instrumental music that borrowed inspiration from many diverse genres and the principles of physics alluded to with references to mathematicians Fibonacci and Pythagoras. Music for aFound Harmonium had particular appeal for Irish musicians and Sharon Shannon and Frankie Gavin are among the artists to cover it.
Formby
The two musical figures that came to my mind throughout both sets were the unlikely pairing of George Formby and Michael Nyman. (who played in Waterford earlier this year). Both halves opened with ukulele solos and at least four members of the group played ukulele at some part of the performance. George Formby who will be forever associated with the ukulele would have felt quite at home in this Victorian theatre space. He took to the music hall stage to recreate his own father's stage routines and there is a resonance surely with Arthur Jeffe recreating the sound of the iconic instrumental ensemble which had hits in the 80's and 90's. As with the Nyman, there is a minimalist approach with an emphasis on patterns and textures rather than melody and there are similarities in the playing techniques used by the string players who number high profile stars Nigel Kennedy and violist Roger Chase amongst the roll call of former members. We enjoyed chatting with band member Tom Chichester Clarke who kindly spent some time with audience goers following the gig.
Penguin Café (The dog sadly didn't appear)
Theatre Royal
Congratulations and thanks to the Imagine Festival organisers. There was much to brighten these late October days of gathering gloom. I am conscious returning to Waterford of the confluence of architectural elegance in the town and the excellent ongoing work in restoring and enhancing the many lovely buildings. Rather than choose an artistic highlight I have chosen the venues as the focus for this post. Our only complaint is that there were too many events and we couldn't get to all of them. We missed the imaginative programming of the silent movie Vampyr with organist Morgan Cooke at Christchurch Cathedral another of Waterford's architectural gems. Looking forward to next year already.
Following fast on the heels of the Imagine Arts Festival, my home town Waterford cements its reputation as a good town for music and arts with the welcome return after a two year absence of the annual celebration of musical theatre, the Waterford International Light Opera Festival. Now in its' 50th year, rebranded as Waterford International Music Festival and incorporating not only shows at the magnificently refurbished Theatre Royal but also a fringe festival including the all pervasive gospel choirs, concerts and a school musical section .
