Music for Galway’s 20th Midwinter Festival, this year themed SEASONS is taking place at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway as well as the Hardiman Hotel between January 20 and 22.
Right in the heart of winter, audiences can look forward to experience the feel and sounds of all seasons over four concerts. The opening featuring one of the most popular works for chamber orchestra, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons paired with the fiery 20th century interpretation of the theme, Four Seasons in Buenos Aires, by Argentinian tango master Piazzolla.
The outstanding Irish Chamber Orchestra and their fearless and fierce leader and soloist Katherine Hunka are performing these works at the Town Hall Theatre on Friday at 8.00pm.
On Saturday, January 21, the festival moves to the more intimate setting of the ballroom at The Hardiman. At 6.00pm British pianist Freddy Kempf juxtaposes Tchaikovsky’s Seasons with Chopin’s Grande Polonaise Brillante.
The power and harshness of Winter will be felt in all its brutal beauty as baritone Jochen Kupfer and Finghin Collins take to the stage on Saturday at 9pm to perform Schubert’s devastatingly beautiful song cycle Winterreise.
It follows the loneliness of a man who has been refused, the chill in his heart reflected in the cold of winter.
Following Saturday night’s wintry bleakness, the radiant Dutch soprano Lenneke Ruiten – by now a firm Galway favourite – sweeps away the cobwebs with an eclectic and varied programme of songs inspired by the other seasons of the year – from Spring to Summer into Autumn and back to Spring again!
Heart-warming and invigorating, this recital, once again featuring Finghin Collins at the piano, will leave you revelling in the promise of longer days, new growth and sunshine.
Ticket holders to the closing concert will be invited to a closing reception to celebrate the 20th Midwinter Festival and to toast to the seasons of 2023 to come!
The Irish Chamber Orchestra is Ireland’s most dynamic ensemble. Mixing traditional repertoire with new commissions and collaborating with everyone from DJs to dance companies, the ICO pushes the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can do. These days, you are as likely to find us at the Electric Picnic as Mozartfest, but wherever we perform, the ICO delivers world-class concerts feted for their energy and style.
Each year, Ireland’s busiest chamber ensemble presents concert seasons in Limerick and Dublin, embarks on two national tours, and makes a series of prestigious international appearances supported by Culture Ireland. Our Artistic Committee works closely with our Artistic Partners to devise exciting, diverse, and innovative programmes, mixing standard repertoire with new work – often specially commissioned – from the best young Irish composers. This versatile approach enables us to appeal to music fans of every stripe while upholding the highest artistic standards.
The driving force behind ICO’s last decade of success has been its Principal Conductor/Artistic Partner Jörg Widmann, a composer, conductor, and clarinettist whose irrepressible energy and pursuit of excellence has enabled the ICO to expand its horizons, attracting outstanding international performers such as Thomas Zehetmair, Henning Kraggerud, Florian Donderer, Brett Dean, Sheku Kanneh-Mason Tabea Zimmermann, Igor Levit, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Throughout the past decade, the ICO has performed at leading concert halls and festivals across Europe, the U.S.A., and South America. The ICO released a series of acclaimed recordings on the prestigious Orfeo and Alpha Classics labels. The ICO was the first Irish Orchestra to complete a three-year residency at Heidelberger Frühling and is currently orchestra-in-residence at Kilkenny Arts Festival.
At the heart of this vision is the belief that music is for everyone. That is why the ICO has implemented an ambitious and far-reaching strategy that aims to take music out of the concert hall and into the local community, inspiring children to try music for themselves, and supporting them on their journey from first lesson to public performance.
LISTINGS
Town Hall Theatre, Galway Friday 20 January – 8.00pm
Irish Chamber Orchestra | Katherine Hunka violin/director
VIVALDI The Four Seasons
PIAZZOLLA The Four Seasons
Hardiman Hotel Ballroom, Eyre Square – Saturday 21 January – 6.00pm
Freddy Kempf piano
Tchaikovsky The Seasons (complete )
Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante Op. 22
Saturday 21 January – 9.00pm
Jochen Kupfer bass-baritone | Finghin Collins piano
SCHUBERT Winterreise
Hardiman Hotel Ballroom, Eyre Square Sunday 22 January – 3.00pm
Lenneke Ruiten soprano | Finghin Collins piano
SCHUBERT Im Frühling
Viola
HAHN Le Printemps
FAURÉ La fée aux chansons
BERLIOZ from Les Nuits d’Eté
– Villanelle
– Le Spectre de la Rose
– L’ile inconnue
MOZART Sehnsucht nach dem Frühling
BRAHMS Die Mainacht
MENDELSSOHN Andres Maienlied
STRAUSS September
RACHMANINOV Spring Waters
Freddy Kempf is one of today’s most successful pianists performing to sell-out audiences all over the world. Exceptionally gifted with an unusually broad repertoire, Freddy has built a unique reputation as an explosive and physical performer who is not afraid to take risks as well as a serious, sensitive and profoundly musical artist.
Freddy has collaborated with conductors such as Järvi, Dutoit, Sawallisch, Sanderling, Chailly, Ashkenazy, Petrenko, Oramo, Davis, Belohlavek, Temirkanov, Altinoglu, and Dausgaard, and has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious musical institutions including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, La Scala Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires, the Tonhalle Orchester and the Dresden Philharmonic.
Most recent career highlights include Freddy’s debut at the BBC Proms, an extensive Asian tour including the Seoul Arts Centre and PyeongChang Music Festival in South Korea; the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore; and concerto appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic. A favourite touring artist, Freddy’s recent tours include a play/conducting tour across New Zealand with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and an extensive twelve-date tour with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra across the UK for which he received critical acclaim: Kempf is a pianist in a million… the incredible definition of Rachmaninov’s inner filigree which emerges all the clearer for a refusal to use the sustaining pedal to blur the sound… his colossal but perfect weight simply stuns. (The Arts Desk )
Jochen Kupfer is an international sought-after singer, both in concert halls and on opera stages. In addition to his engagements at the Semperoper Dresden and the Staatstheater Nürnberg, guest appearances have taken him to the opera houses in Tokyo, Beijing, Strasbourg and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, to the Zurich Opera House, the Vienna Volksoper, the Graz Opera and to the styriarte, the Hamburg State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Leipzig Opera, the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. His repertoire includes among others the title role in Wozzeck, Duke Bluebeard (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle ), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde ), Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ), Gunther (Götterdämmerung ), Mandryka (Arabella ), Jochanaan (Salome ), Orest (Elektra ) and Besenbinder (Hänsel und Gretel ).Jochen Kupfer also focuses intensively on the Lied repertoire.
He has given recitals and concerts throughout Europe, in Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Israel and the United States, as well as at international festivals. Jochen Kupfer’s extensive discography includes numerous CD and DVD recordings. Currently he is working on the three-part “Hans Sommer Lied Edition” (Naxos/BR Klassik ).Jochen Kupfer studied at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, attended master classes with Theo Adam, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and works with Rudolf Piernay, Harald Stamm and Dale Fundling. In 2016 Jochen Kupfer has been awarded the honorary title “Bayerischer Kammersänger”.Since 2019 he has been a professor at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg.More information also available at www.jochen-kupfer.de One of Ireland’s most successful musicians, Finghin Collins was born in Dublin in 1977 and studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O’Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet. He took first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. Since then he has continued to enjoy a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia.
Collins has performed with many of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. He has also given solo recitals in many of the world’s most prestigious halls and participates frequently in chamber music festivals with a variety of colleagues of international standing.
Finghin Collins is very active as a programmer, commissioner and concert presenter in Ireland, having been Artistic Director of the New Ross Piano Festival since its inception in 2006, and Artistic Director of Music for Galway since 2013. Collins is also co-founder and co-artistic director of the International Master Course at Dublin’s National Concert Hall together with violinist Gwendolyn Masin.
In October 2017, the National University of Ireland conferred on him an honorary Degree of Doctor of Music, in recognition of his outstanding achievements.
Lenneke Ruiten studied flute and singing at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Bavarian Theatre Academy in Munich. 2002 she won several prizes at the International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Today she’s one of the most demanded sopranos of our time with an outstanding international career in concert and opera.
Important engagements in the first half of 2022: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Münchner Philharmonikerunder Antonello Manacorda (Dec 21/Jan 22 ) , Haydn’s Creation (in Italian ) in Rome with the Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir John Eliot Gardiner (Jan 22 ), Alcina at the Opéra de Lausanne under Diego Fasolis (March 22 ) a concert at the Kammerakademie Potsdam with the final from Cosi fan Tutte under Antonello Manacorda (March 2022 ) Christus am Ölberg with the Basle Bach Chor (April 22 ) and Mozart’s “Ah, lo previdi!” KV 272, with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Sir Mark Philip Elder (April 2022 )
She is a frequent guest at festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Festival d’Aix-en Provence, the Edinburgh Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, BBC Proms, Leipzig Bach Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival, Holland Festival and the Drottningholm Festival The soprano worked with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Musiciens du Louvre, Le talens lyriques, the Orchestra of the 18th century, the English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir, the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, the Academy of ancient music, Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Symphonieorchester of the Bavarian Radio with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, John Eliot Gardiner, Antonello Manacorda, Christophe Rousset, Christian Thielemann, Marek Janowski, Helmut Rilling, Frans Brüggen, Ton Koopman, Marc Minkowski, Emmanuelle Haïm and Iván Fischer.
