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CORK ORCHESTRAL

SOCIETY

71st Season

[email protected]

Programme

autumn / Winter 2008

http://www.corkorchestralsociety.ie


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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The Cork Orchestral Society is pleased to present a superb variety of classical music for the city. We are delighted that the Irish Chamber Orchestra found a large and loyal following here during their first year as Artists-in-Residence to the Cork School of Music and greatly look forward to their performances this season with exciting soloists of the highest calibre.

Visiting ensembles will include the captivating Philippe Cassard Piano Trio from France, the inspiring Carducci Quartet (also Ensemble-in-Residence to the Cork School of Music) and the Dutch visionary Ensemble Caméléon, whose performance with Irish oboist Aisling Casey promises to be a season highlight. Madrigal ’75’s christmas concert was an audience favourite last year and is sure to be so again in 2008.

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra has an especially passionate central European programme for its concert featuring Cork violinist Elizabeth Cooney as soloist, and the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet will be joined for performances by pianist Ciara Moroney (a member of the Cork School of Music’s staff) and by New York-based clarinettist Carol McGonnell.

We are excited to welcome back pianist Pascal Meyer following his memorable performance as part of Our mEUsical partners in 2006. He returns with collaborating pianist Xenia Pestova for a landmark performance of Stockhausen’s masterpiece MANTRA, making use of the Cork Schools of Music’s two Model D concert grand pianos and its state-of-the-art technology.








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Friday 19 September

Irish Chamber Orchestra

Anthony Marwood (director/violin) & Susan Gritton (soprano)

8.00 p.m.Curtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music Arensky!! Variations on a theme of Tchaikovsky

J. S. Bach! Cantata BWV 199

! Violin Concerto in E

Shostakovich ! Quartet No. 2 arr. for string orchestra

Susan Gritton

ICO Booking Office: 081 8719300

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The Irish Chamber Orchestra’s celebrated artistic director, Anthony Marwood, opens the new season in style with two examples of Bach’s melodic genius. The violin concerto highlights the astonishing beauty of Marwood’s sound, whilst the cantata, sung by the sublime Susan Gritton, is an emotional rollercoaster as guilt and despair are replaced by a joyful optimism about life (and death). The programme is book-ended by contrasting shades of Russian passion: Arensky’s warm tribute to Tchaikovsky and Shostakovitch’s triumphant rising above wartime struggles.




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Thursday 2 October

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartetwith Ciara Moroney (piano)

8.00 p.m.Aula Maxima, UCC

Mozart! ! Quartet in D, KV 421Zemlinsky ! Quartet No. 3

Brahms ! Piano Quintet

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Winner of the 1988 London International String Quartet Competition, the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet is widely regarded as one of Europe’s finest and most successful string quartets, enjoying a thriving international career in performance and recording. For this performance the quartet will be joined by the outstanding Cork pianist, Ciara Moroney, to perform Brahms’ stunning Piano Quintet in F minor. With its rousing rhythmic patterns and majestic themes, this is a unique and irresistible occasion. Opening the concert is Mozart’s string quartet in D minor, which he dedicated to Haydn and whose influence is strongly evident in the work. The second quartet by Alexander von Zemlinsky is described as an outstanding example of progressive music. In it we hear him abandoning the post-romantic style of his earlier compositions and embracing the newer techniques of neo-classicism.




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Friday 3 October


Orlando Jopling (conductor / arranger)

8.00 p.m.Curtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

Shakespeare/Mendelssohn! A Midsummer Night’s Dream



Theatre comes to the concert hall, as two of Ireland’s most dynamic ensembles join forces for a ground-breaking collaboration of words and music. Storytellers Theatre Company’s new version of Shakespeare’s magical tale of fairies and fools is performed alongside Mendelssohn’s technicolour score in this major production.“The course of true love never did run smooth.” (Shakespeare)




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Thursday 16 October

Carducci Quartet


Haydn " Quartet in D, Op. 50 No. 6 ("The Frog") Britten " Quartet No. 1 Beethoven " Quartet in C, Op. 59 No. 3 (“Razumovsky”)

Carducci Quartet

The Carducci Quartet is Ensemble-in-Residence to Cork School of Music, where two members of the group attended music lessons from an early age.

"We are really looking forward to performing in Cork. Although our concert schedule this season takes us from Tokyo to New York's Carnegie Hall, there's nothing quite as special for us as playing to the home crowd!" Michelle Fleming (2nd violinist) & Eoin

Schmidt-Martin (violist) of the Carducci Quartet.




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Thursday 23 October

Ensemble Caméléonwith Aisling Casey (oboe & oboe d’amore)


Aisling

Casey

Ensemble Caméléon

R. Strauss ! Capriccio Britten !! Phantasy Quartet Theo Loevendie! Duello for oboe & violin (2006) Ian Wilson ! Eyeless upon a dark river ! ! for oboe/oboe d'amore & string septet R. Strauss ! Metamorphosen

Ensemble Caméléon, is the only group of its kind in The Netherlands. Most of the group are principal string players with leading Dutch orchestras and aim to bring the traditional chamber music repertory to a broader audience. The group has as its core pairs of violins, violas and cellos and one double bass and works alongside leading composers, singers, instrumentalists, dancers and actors to enhance their exciting and innovative programming. Their many concerts have been critically acclaimed, not only for the high individual standard of playing, but also perfect ensemble, musical conviction and flair.




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Thursday 6 November

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet


Vanbrugh Quartet

Mozart !! Quartet in Eb, KV 428 Schumann ! Quartet in A Brahms !! Quartet in a

Perfect: the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet performing a winning combination of classical and romantic chamber music. Written during one of the most fertile periods of Schumann’s life, the String Quartet Op. 41 No. 3 will be framed by Mozart’s charming String Quartet in Eb, and the passionate and romantic Quartet Op. 51 No. 2 by Brahms.




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Thursday 13 November

Pascal Meyer & Xenia Pestova (pianos)


Stockhausen MANTRA

As a tribute to the one of the most important musical innovators of the twentieth century, the Pestova/Meyer Piano Duo present his rarely performed masterpiece MANTRA (1970) for two pianos and live electronics. An exciting and highly virtuosic work, it calls for an unconventional approach to piano playing, with the pianists required to play antique cymbals and woodblocks, as well as use their voices. The two grand pianos are processed electronically in real-time to create two "super-instruments" with scintillating and beautiful sonorities that approach the exotic sound worlds of the prepared piano of John Cage, high-energy electric guitar distortion, and mysterious Morse-code radio signals.




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Thursday 20 November

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra

Vladimir Altschuler (conductor)Elizabeth Cooney (violin)

8.00 p.m.City Hall

Smetana" “The Moldau” from Má vlast Dvo!ák "" Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky " Symphony No. 6 in b (“Pathétique”)

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Tchaikovsky's Symphonie Pathétique is a work full of power, poetry and pathos, and is music of extraordinary intensity. Smetana's richly melodic “The Moldau” (or “Vltava”) is a vivid portrait of a river, and Elizabeth Cooney, one of the very finest of young Irish violinists, is sure to be inspired by the fantasy and spontaneous lyricism of Dvo!ák's concerto.




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Friday 21 November


Alexander Polianichko (conductor)Aleksander Madzar (piano)& Huw Morgan (trumpet)



Stravinsky " Apollon musagète

Haydn ! ! Concerto in D, Hob. 18 No. 11" " Symphony No. 43 in Eb (“Mercury”)Shostakovich! Piano Concerto No.1, Op. 35

Flamboyant Russian maestro Alexander Polianichko and Serbian pianist Aleksandar Mad#ar serve up a treat for lovers of the piano concerto. Although separated by two centuries, both concertos combine melodic classicism with playful wit. A vibrant humour bursts from the Shostakovich concerto, in which the humour of the piano line is shadowed by sardonic interjections from a solo trumpet. Expect a definitive reading of Stravinsky’s Apollon Musagète - Polianichko has spent many years immersed in Russian ballet as a conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

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Wednesday 3 December


Maxim Vengerov (conductor)& Alison Balsam (trumpet)

8.00 p.m.City Hall


One of the towering figures on the international music scene, Maxim Vengerov, takes to the conductor’s podium for a performance of Beethoven’s seismic “Eroica” – the symphony that heralded the arrival of the Romantic era. This gala concert also features trumpeter Alison Balsom, whose mesmerising talent has established her amongst classical music’s new superstars.

Tchaikovsky!! Serenade, Op. 48

Hummel ! ! Trumpet Concerto in Eb

Beethoven !! Symphony No. 3 in Eb (“Eroica”)

Alison Balsam




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Thursday 4 December

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartetwith Carol McGonnell (clarinet)


Mozart" " Quartet in C, KV 465 ("Dissonance") Beethoven " Quartet in f, Op. 95 (“Serioso”) Brahms " Clarinet Quintet

Carol McGonnell

The last of Mozart’s string quartets, dedicated to Haydn, is probably one of his most well-known works. Nicknamed the “Serioso”, Beethoven's String Quartet No. 11 in F minor is one his shortest and most compact. Written in 1810, Beethoven used experimental compositional techniques which were seen as out of character with his other works from this time. Brahms wrote his Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 during the summer of 1891. A dark and sombre piece, this quintet is widely regarded as his finest piece of chamber music.




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Thursday 18 December

Madrigal ’75 Chamber Choir

The Star and the Wisemen


It’s barely a week to Christmas!

Mince pies flavour the air, crayoned envelopes magic their way to the frozen North, lists are checked (twice), gifts are ribbon-wrapped and thoughts fondly turn to distant relatives and friends soon expected home.

What better way to kindle the charm of Christmas than to spend an evening of genuine festive charm in the company of Madrigal ’75? Beautiful vocal lines blend with burnished tones of mellow brass in a special programme of seasonal music drawing together music from the early sixteenth century to the present day. Bathed in candlelight The Star and the Wisemen will nourish the senses.

Merry Christmas!

Mad

rigal

’75




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Thursday 15 January 2009

Philippe Cassard Piano Trio

Philippe Cassard (piano), David Grimal (violin), Anne Gastinel (cello)


Debussy! Sonata for Violin & Piano Mendelssohn ! Trio in d, Op. 49 Eric Tanguy ! Nocturne Ravel ! ! Trio

Phillippe Cassard

‘Ravel's Trio is one of our favourites ever: a masterpiece for piano trio, a world of extremes (contrasts, exuberance, rhythms, virtuosity and intimate colours). The bicentenary of Mendelssohn’s birth is celebrated with the high voltage D minor Trio, which combines bravura and beautiful melodic lines. Eric Tanguy is one of the most talented of young French composers and as Debussy is one of his gods, we will open the concert with the master’s delicate and mysterious sonata for violin and piano.’ (Phillippe Cassard)




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The Venues

Curtis Auditorium The magnificent Curtis Auditorium lies at the heart of the state-of-the-art CIT Cork School of Music on Union Quay. The Auditorium is fully equipped with a moveable ceiling and adjustable walls to cater for different acoustical needs. Enhance your evening by arriving early and enjoying the fine cuisine offered by the school’s offquay bistro.

City Hall The City Hall is situated on the waterfront overlooking the South channel of the River Lee and is a fine venue for large-scale concerts, comfortably seating a large audience.





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The Venues

Aula Maxima, UCC

Described in 1949 by The Cork Examiner as 'one of the

most magnificent rooms in Ireland', the Aula Maxima is in the

heart of the University and is a truly superb setting for

concerts. A 10-minute walk up Washington Street from the

Grand Parade, followed by a leafy stroll up the picturesque

path from the main gates to the Aula in the old stone Main

Quadrangle. Leave plenty of time for parking if you're

arriving by car (see map) and take a leisurely wander

through the picturesque campus.




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Membership

September 2008 - August 2009

Ordinary Membership $25Concessionary Membership $15

Admission Prices for the 71st Season

Cork Orchestral Society Curtis Auditorium 8.00 p.m. recitals / concerts Raked seats: $25 ($15 & $10)Flat-floor seats: $20 ($12 & $8)Lunchtime recitals / concerts Raked seats: $12 (No concessions) Flat-floor seats: $10 ($8 & $5) City HallBalcony: $25 (No concessions)Downstairs: $20 & $15 ($15 & $10)Family (Downstairs): ($30 & $25)

Irish Chamber Orchestra Curtis AuditoriumRaked seats: $30 ($25)Flat-floor seats: $20 ($15)City HallBalcony: $40 (No concessions)Downstairs: $27 & $15 ($22 & $10)ICO Booking Office: 081 8719300 www.ticketmaster.ie

RTÉAula Maxima$16 ($14 & $10)City HallBalcony: $23 (No concessions)Downstairs: $20 & $15 ($18 & $13)Student (Downstairs, back only): $10




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PreviewSpring / Summer 2009

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet with Cian O Dúill (viola)Thursday 29 January 2009

Elisabeth Goel (soprano) & Una Hunt (piano)Thursday 5 February 2009

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Jaime Martin (conductor) & Johnny Teyssier (clarinet)Friday 6 February 2009

Mary Hegarty (soprano) & Eleanor Malone (piano)Thursday 12 February 2009

RTÉ Vanbrugh QuartetThursday 26 February 2009

Beyond the Pale (Baroque ensemble)Thursday 5 March 2009

Xue Fei Yang (guitar)Thursday 12 March 2009

Fleischmann Choir & RTÉ Concert OrchestraSaturday 21 March 2009

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Stephen Hough (director/piano)Friday 27 March 2009!

Cork School of Music Symphony OrchestraSaturday 28 March & Sunday 29 March 2009

Peter Donohoe (piano) Thursday 2 April 2009

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Anthony Marwood (director/violin)Friday 17 April 2009

Hugh Tinney (piano)Thursday 23 April 2009

Irish Chamber Orchestrawith Richard Tognetti (director/violin/arranger) Friday 29 May 2009








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Irish Chamber Orchestra with Susan Gritton (soprano)Friday 19 SeptemberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet with Ciara Moroney (piano)Thursday 2 OctoberAula Maxima, UCC

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Orlando JoplingFriday 3 OctoberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

Carducci QuartetThursday 16 OctoberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

Ensemble Caméléon with Aisling Casey (oboe)Thursday 23 OctoberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

RTÉ Vanbrugh QuartetThursday 6 NovemberAula Maxima, UCC

Pascal Meyer & Xenia Pestova (pianos)performing Stockhausen’s MANTRAThursday 13 NovemberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra with Elizabeth Cooney (violin) Thursday 20 NovemberCity Hall

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Alexander PolianichkoFriday 21 NovemberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

Irish Chamber Orchestra with Maxim VengerovWednesday 3 DecemberCity Hall

RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet with Carol McGonnell (clarinet)Thursday 4 DecemberAula Maxima, UCC

Madrigal ’75 Chamber ChoirThursday 18 DecemberCurtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music

Philippe Cassard Piano TrioThursday 15 January 2009Curtis Auditorium, CIT Cork School of Music


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