January festival celebrates life and work of Beethoven

Music for Galway will celebrate Beethoven’s genius and his Irish connection in its annual Midwinter Festival, which takes place from January 25-27.

The title of the festival Beethoven: Genius, Passion and the Irish connection, and it will take place in Galway's Town Hall Theatre. An international cast will descend on the city for the event, including the Osiris Piano Trio and soprano Charlotte Riedijk from the Netherlands; Paul Roe, clarinet; Robin Tritschler, tenor; and pianist Rebecca ?ápová from Ireland. They will present an unusual programme of piano solos, trios, and Irish poems set to music by Beethoven.

The Festival will open on Friday, January 25 at 8pm with an event entitled Genius: From earliest Compositions to the Final Piano piece. 

Saturday evening’s event, Passion; To the Distant Beloved will feature a range of compositions and Beethoven’s music will be complemented by readings from his letters, read by actor Rod Goodall. These were translated by Galway scholar Emily Anderson – her translations, published in the 1960s brought Beethoven’s letters to the English speaking world.

Music for Galway’s annual Mid-Winter Festival, which focuses on the legacy of Beethoven and Mozart on alternate years, is in memory of Ms Anderson (1891-1962), the daughter of the University President, who grew up in the grounds of NUIG. She lectured in German at the college for a time, before relocating to London where she worked in the Foreign Office. These days she is better known for translating the complete correspondence of Mozart and Beethoven into English.

On the afternoon of Saturday, January 26 there will be a chance for audiences to ‘Meet the Musicians’ when they will be in conversation with Music for Galway co-founder Jane O’Leary.

With this year’s celebration of Beethoven, Music for Galway is hoping to explore his innermost thoughts, hopes and fears, and to allow audiences experience the hope and passion of his music through the performances of Europe's finest musicians.

The event is sponsored by DERI and NUI Galway, Tickets to the Midwinter Festival (to include three concerts and the talk) are €55/€45 concessions. Individual concert tickets are €20, or €16 concessions or €6 for fulltime students and have potential as a Christmas present for a music lover.

Booking for the Festival is open now at the Town Hall Theatre: 091 569777 or www.tht.ie

For those who want to make a weekend of it, hotel and concert packages are available from Park House Hotel on 091 564924 and the Ardilaun Hotel on 091-521433. Full programme details are available on w

ww.musicforgalway.ie