‘Thrilling and diverse’ – Kilkenny Arts Festival unveil highlights of 2019 classical music programme
SOME of the biggest names in international classical music will perform at the 2019 Kilkenny Arts Festival.
The renowned festival, now in its 46th year, has unveiled the main highlights of its classical music programme.
Festival Director Olga Barry said: “We’re proud to announce our main classical music programme for our 46th Festival. Kilkenny Arts Festival has a long and venerable tradition of inviting great Irish and international artists to perform masterworks each summer and this year we’re delighted to present a number of Kilkenny debuts alongside festival favourites.
“It is a joy to present such wonderful artists in the stunning historic spaces of Kilkenny and I’m honoured to continue this fine tradition. We’re looking forward to the coming weeks where we will announce our full festival programme which includes a thrilling and diverse array of theatre, music, literature, exhibitions, talks, dance, spectacle and surprise!”
This year’s classical music programme includes an exciting mix of debuts and returning talent.
Rising star pianist Alexander Gavryluk will perform at the festival for the first time in a mouth-watering programme that includes works from Brahms, Listz and Mussorgsky. The festival also welcomes the renowned international baroque ensemble Orfeo 55 to Ireland for the first time in the company of its founder – artistic director and conductor Nathalie Stutzmann – to perform a special Bach programme.
The festival will continue its partnership with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and leader Katherine Hunka, who will bring star violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair alongside violist Ruth Killius “in a mammoth Beethoven programme also featuring Britten’s Double Concerto”.
Also making his first appearance at the festival is Games of Thrones actor Ciarán Hinds, who will perform with the Fews Ensemble, led by Joanne Quigley, in a special presentation of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.
Continuing the festival’s commitment to presenting the finest chamber music, this year’s programme sees a stellar collection of international and Irish ensembles and artists perform a diverse range of music from the ‘canon’ of the European Art Music tradition and beyond. The 2019 series – Chamber Music in the Afternoon – offers a variety of forms and styles and features a wide range of composers including Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Britten, Elgar, Debussy, Brahms and Pärt.
The series will be kicked off by the Kilkenny Arts Festival orchestra in residence, the ICO, directed by Katherine Hunka, in a delightful programme of masterpieces from Elgar and Britten. For the first time the Festival welcomes the young chamber music collective, Musici Ireland, for a pair of concerts, starting with chamber and choral works by the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose unmistakable sound has thrilled audiences all over the world for more than 40 years.
Two young Irish artists will perform at St John’s Priory: Cork-born pianist Fionnuala Moynihan presents an intriguing programme of Clara Schumann, and Kilkenny native and rising star Patrick Rafter, performing with Michael McHale in a programme of Debussy and Franck.
Kilkenny Arts Festival welcomes back Festival favourites Quatuor Mosaïques for a fresh trio of concerts in the Black Abbey.
After its sold-out, late-night concerts exploring choral works through the ages, Chamber Choir Ireland returns to the Festival with a radical new approach. Led by celebrated Norwegian conductor Grete Pederson, the choir performs a suite of contemporary pieces by a wealth of European composers.
And no Kilkenny Arts Festival would be complete without Malcolm Proud, one of Europe’s finest organists, offering a programme of Bach at St Canice’s Cathedral.
Kilkenny Arts Festival 2019 – Classical Music Programme
ALEXANDER GAVRYLUK (piano)
August 10, 7:30pm, St Canice’s Cathedral
Programme:
MOZART: Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545
BRAHMS: Rhapsody No. 2 in g minor, Op. 79
BRAHMS: Intermezzi Nos. 2 & 3, Op. 117
LISZT: Étude No. 6
SAINT-SAЁNS: Danse Macabre (Liszt/Horowitz)
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
ORFEO 55
NATHALIE STUTZMANN (conductor, contralto), LEON KOSAVIC (bass)
August, 7:30pm, St Canice’s Cathedral
Programme:
Bach – Devotion
BWV 42 – Sinfonia
BWV – Vergnüte Ruh
BWV 4 – Sinfonia
BWV 74 – Ich gehe hin
BWV 133 – Getrost!
BWV 33 – Wie Furchtsam wankten meinne Schritte
BWV 56 – Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen
BWV 42 – Jesus ist ein Schild
BWV 35 – Gott hat alles wohl gemacht
BWV 35 – Sinfonia (no. 5)
BWV 106 – In deine Hände, befehl’ ich meinen Geist
BWV 12 – Sinfona (no. 1)
BWV 82 – Ich habe genug
IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
THOMAS ZEHETMAIR (conductor, violin)
RUTH KILLIUS (viola)
August 16, 7:30pm, St Canice’s Cathedral
Programme:
Beethoven: Corialanus Overture
Britten: Double Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, ‘Eroica’
CHAMBER MUSIC IN THE AFTERNOON
Chamber Series #1
IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, directed by KATHERINE HUNKA (leader)
August 9, 4pm, The Black Abbey
Programme:
Britten: Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge
Elgar: Serenade for Strings
Fennessy: Hirta Rounds
Elgar: Allegro and Introduction
Chamber Series #2
MUSICI IRELAND
Roisín O’Grady (soprano), Sharon Carty (mezzo soprano), Eamonn Mulhall
(tenor)
Helena Wood, Siun Milne (violin) Beth McNinch (viola), Bill Butt (‘cello)
August 10, 3:30pm, The Black Abbey
Programme:
Arvo Pärt: ‘Es sang vor langen Jahren’
Arvo Pärt: Fratres
Arvo Pärt: Summa
Arvo Pärt: Stabat Mater
Chamber Series #3
PATRICK RAFTER (violin), MICHAEL McHALE (piano)
August 11, 3:30pm, St John’s Priory
Programme:
Debussy: Sonata for violin and piano, L.148
Debussy: Estampes, II. La soirée dans Grenade; III. Jardins sous la pluie
Ysaÿe: Sonata No.3 for solo violin “Ballade”
Franck: Sonata in A major for violin and piano
Chamber Series #4
FIONNUALA MOYNIHAN (piano)
August 12, 3:30pm, St John’s Priory
Programme:
Clara Schumann: Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20
Clara Schumann: Piano Sonata in G minor
Clara Schumann: Drei Romanzen Op. 21
Chamber Series # 5,6,7
QUATUOR MOSAÏQUES
August 13, 14 & 15, 3:30pm, The Black Abbey
Programme – 13th:
Mozart: String Quartet K156 in D Major
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 74, No.3 (“Emperor”)
Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59. No.1
Programme – 14th:
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 42 in d minor
Mozart: String Quartet K464 in A major
Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2
Programme – 15th:
Mozart: Adagio and Fugue in c minor
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 64, No. 6
Beethoven: String Quartet in C major, Op. 59, No. 3
Chamber Series #8
CHAMBER CHOIR IRELAND
GRETE PEDERSON (conductor)
August 16, 3:30pm, The Black Abbey
Programme:
Kaija Saariaho: Nuits, adieux
Orjan Matre: Orphic Songs Prologue, Rite, Hyphnos
Louis Andriessen: Un Beau Baiser
Deirdre McKay: Sable sui glisse
Rhona Clarke: The Kiss
Maja Linderoth: Sonnet form denatured prose
Chamber Series #9
MUSICI IRELAND
Harriet MacKenzie, Jane Hackett (violin)
Beth McNinch, Andreea Banciu (Viola)
Bill Butt, Grainne Hope (Cello)
August 17, 3:30pm, The Black Abbey
Programme:
Brahms: String Sextet No. 1 in Bb, Op. 18
Brahms: Sextet No. 2 in G, Op. 36
MALCOLM PROUD – organ recital
August 17, 11am, St Canice’s Cathedral
Programme:
Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
Bach: Three chorale preludes on ‘Nun komm’, der Heiden Heiland’, BWV
659/660/661
Bach: Canonic variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her’, BWV 769
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 54
CLASSICAL MUSIC/SPOKEN WORD
CIARÁN HINDS, FEWS ENSEMBLE, EMILY AYERS perform
The Soldier’s Tale
Stravinsky, Ramuz
13th August, 7:30pm
14th August, 7:30pm
Watergate Theatre
