The West Cork Chamber Music Festival has another string in its bow
NCE again I find myself utterly overcome by the prospect of another unforgettable week of performances in the magical surroundings of Bantry for the West Cork Chamber Music Festival.
The festival brochure has been available for some time and booking is already well under way for what promises to be a sumptuous feast of music making.
The statistics alone make one gasp at the planning that director Francis Humphrys has again put into this, the 20th edition of the festival. In the eight days between Friday, June 27, and Saturday, July 4, I counted 37 separate concerts, at which 101 different works will be performed.
These will range from solo sonatas/suites (such as Barry Douglas playing Schubert and David Cohen playing Bach cello suites) through duets (among these will be tenor, James Gilchrist and oboist Gareth Hulse performing the Ten Blake Songs by Vaughan Williams), trios, quartets, and quintets to Mendelssohn’s marvellous Octet, as well as concertos that need chamber orchestral accompaniment (by Arcangelo Chamber Orchestra) and another visit from the wonderful Young European Strings Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Masin.
One is spoilt for choice. Three venues are in use: St Brendan’s School for the Town Concerts, with the other events being divided between St Brendan’s Church and the magnificent Bantry House.
WCCM Festival is always a truly international affair. This year the 35 solo artists come from 14 countries, the five professional string quartets around whom the festival is built come from Ireland, England, Germany, Italy, and Russia, and one of the four student quartets who will participate in the Masterclasses comes from the Royal Academy of Music in London.
This international aspect, together with the Masterclasses, in which the student quartets are tutored by quartets and solo artists participating in the festival, is one of the reasons that the German-based Crespo Foundation is so supportive of the festival.
It will be wonderful to welcome back the Borodin Quartet to this year’s festival.
Founded in 1945 as the Moscow Conservatoire Quartet, with Rostropovich as cellist (he only remained for a short time, preferring to concentrate on his solo career), they changed their name to the Borodin Quartet in 1955 and became, as one critic termed them, “the musical voice of Russia”.
They became one of the few ensembles allowed to freely travel abroad and played at the funerals of both Stalin and Prokofiev who died on the same day in 1953.
The intervening years have, naturally, seen many changes of personnel. Valentin Berlinsky, the cellist who replaced Rostropovich, and widely regarded as the one who kept the soul of the quartet alive did not retire until 2007, having ensured that the style, interpretation, and sound quality remained true to those established in the early years.
Their presence at the WCCM Festival, one of their stops on this 70th anniversary world tour, is a huge coup. They will play music by Borodin, Glinka and Shostakovich in their four appearances, as well as tutoring the young Arioso and Vuillaume quartets in masterclasses.
Wow! Our West Cork Chamber Music Festival is one of only 16 Successful IRISH Festivals Awarded with FIRST EFFE... http://t.co/zUpmiAkqtJ
— West Cork Chamber Music Festival (@Westcorkmusic) June 1, 2015
These masterclasses in the Maritime Hotel provide a wonderful opportunity of learning how international artists approach the performance of a piece of music and how they can share their expertise with the next generation. Equally fascinating for many are Evelyn Grant’s public interviews with artists in the Brick Oven each morning.
The Coffee Concert programmes mostly comprise music from the 17th and 18th centuries. As usual, there’s a fascinating mixture of styles in his programming. Saturday brings concertos and sinfonias by Bach, Telemann, and Muffat, Monday brings concertos for cello and bassoon by Vivaldi, and Friday brings sonatas and operatic scenes by Handel.
However, for me, the concerts on Tuesday (Monteverdi songs for soprano and lute) and Wednesday (music by Schmelzer, Buxtehude, and Biber for tenor, violin, and continuo) hold the greatest fascination.
Thursday offers a string quintet by Mozart and Janacek’s ‘Intimate letters’ quartet while Saturday brings wind ensemble music by Beethoven, Ligeti, and Janacek. Could one reasonably ask for a more Catholic selection of delights?
The first of the Town Concerts features a quartet that came together in 2007, when the four players were students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Led by Zara Benyounes, they will perform two gorgeous quartets by Ravel and Mendelssohn. The Young European Strings include Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in their programme on Tuesday. The other Town Concerts feature each of the student quartets in turn and then, on Saturday, they showcase the results of their coaching in a special Young Musicians Platform in St Brendan’s Church.
The Crespo Series of recitals offer such a variety of experiences that only someone with an imagination like Francis Humphrys could have dreamed them up. While the sounds of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, and Brahms makes up the bulk of what is on offer, the other music promises extraordinarily rich and varied listening experiences.
On Saturday, June 27, for instance, Mozart’s delightful ‘Hunt’ quartet is paired with Jorg Widmann’s very gritty quartet of the same name. Expect to be shocked by the wonderfully violent world that Widmann explores.
Just reposting our playlist including many of the artists appearing at this year's festival - our 20th! Check out... http://t.co/rLkjd0T4pz
— West Cork Chamber Music Festival (@Westcorkmusic) May 29, 2015
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