26 May 2016
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Entertainment Update
When: Friday 1 – Saturday 9 July, Bantry, West Cork.
The West Cork Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 21st Anniversary from 1st to 9th July with a vibrant programme of concerts in St Brendan’s Church and Bantry House in the beautiful surroundings of Bantry, Co.Cork.
The programme comprises of 85 world-class musicians performing in 37 concerts, 26 young musician masterclasses, 9 artist interviews, and Ireland’s only instrument exhibition.
A notable feature of this year’s line-up is the rich selection of major song cycles featuring top international singers. Tenor Mark Padmore will join with the outstanding pianist, Paul Lewis, in Schubert’s great setting of Winterreise. Two nights later, Mark will sing Janacek’s rarely performed Diary of One who Disappeared, with pianist Julius Drake, and French mezzo Anna Reinhold as the seductive gypsy girl. The festival opens with the world premiere of Deirdre Gribbin’s Devil’s Dwelling Place, which will be performed by the Israeli violinist Nurit Stark.
The festival can always be relied on to explore unusual corners of the repertoire. One coffee concert features love songs by women composers from eighteenth century Italy; another alternates arias from Bach Cantatas with chorales from remote Swedish communities in a programme devised by Festival favourite, Maria Keohane, while a late-night concert sees a setting of Kafka texts for soprano and violin.
This special 21st Anniversary line-up also includes Tamsin Waley-Cohen, Monika Leskovar, Vanbrugh Quartet, Concerto Copenhagen, Alina Ibragimova, Chiaroscuro Quartet, Kelemen Quartet, Borusan Quartet, Tamar Beraia, Lawrence Power, Eline Vähälä, Cédric Tiberghien, Pieter Wispelwey, Adrian Brendel, José Gallardo and many more.
This annual festival is renowned for its imaginative programming that blends contemporary pieces with some of the best-loved works in the repertoire. Among those performed this Summer will be works by Brahms, Beethoven, Bartók, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Telemann, Vivaldi, Bach, Shostakovich and Handel. Contemporary composers featured include György Kurtág, Deirdre Gribbin and Séan Doherty.
The West Cork Chamber Music Festival is generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Failte Ireland, Crespo Foundation, RTE Lyric FM and Cork County Council.
The supporters of the Festival include Cork County Council
Booking on www.westcorkmusic.ie, Telephone +353 (0) 27 52788 or Lo Call 1850 788 789.
