Classical connections
Cork violin player Elizabeth Cooney enjoyed a homecoming of sorts last week as she performed at NUIG’s Aula Maxima with French cellist Marc Copley and pianist Finghin Collin, as part of the Music for Galway season. Elizabeth’s mother is from Galway and she spent time with her Carraroe relations during her visit.
There was a sizeable turnout for the event which was the first time Finghin Collins took to the stage in Galway since taking over as Artistic Director of Music for Galway last year.
The programme was a challenging but absorbing one as the trio turned in a scintillating performance. From the teeth-grinding dissonances of Aaron Copland's Vitebsk, through the melancholy playfulness of Shostakovich's Piano Trio in E minor, and on to Dvořák's distinctly eastern Piano Trio No 4, their delivery was sure-footed, deliberate and infused with humanity.
In the hands of any but the finest musicians, such an evening's programme might have proved alienating. Not so for this group – and as the applause afterwards indicated, the crowd felt likewise.