DECEMBER 2013

Irish Chamber Orchestra
Katherine Hunka  Director
Ailish Tynan   Soprano
ICO Chorus

A NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM

Händel          Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 7 HWV 325, B-flat major
Händel          I know that my Redeemer Liveth (Messiah)
Barber          Adagio for Strings
Verdi            Ave Maria (Otello)
Mozart          Divertimento KV 137, B-flat major
Traditional    The Wexford Carol
Traditional    Don Oiche úd I mBeithil /That Night in Bethlehem
Haydn           Kindersymphonie, Hob II,  47  C major (Toy Symphony)
Adam            Oh Holy Night

Handel’s Op. 6 collection brims with a wealth of variety, colour, and dance rhythms. Following Corelli’s example, he employed a concertino group of two violins and a cello in the bulk of his own Op. 6 set, the one exception being the seventh concerto.

Following their successful collaboration in Berlin earlier this year, Irish-born soprano Ailish Tynan celebrates Christmas with the ICO, singing Handel’s moving aria I Know That My Redeemer Liveth from his popular Messiah.  She performs popular Christmas carols including O Holy Night, by Adolphe Adam.  This offers the irresistible combination of operatic drama and technical difficulty to Ailish who also performs the much loved traditional Irish Christmas carols including the Wexford Carol and a haunting rendition of Don Oíche úd I mBeithil.

Barber’s Adagio for Strings defined his career. It is one of the most beautiful and recognizable works in the modern classical music canon.  Much loved, it featured in movie soundtracks including Platoon, The Elephant Man and has been performed at many state funerals.

Another emotive work, Verdi’s cappella Ave Maria has an ethereal, timeless quality.   It’s a key moment in the last act of Verdi‘s great opera Otello.

Mozart’s Divertimento in B-flat makes a vivacious return to the atmospheric Christmas mood.

Haydn‘s “Toy Symphony” is a whimsical work in three movements.  The good-humoured composer was intrigued by a number of Bavarian toy instruments and reportedly wrote the Symphony to incorporate them!

Concert Dates

1387483200

1540223943

• 20:00, Thursday, December 19, 2013

  St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick

  Tickets no longer available

1387571400

1540223943

• 20:30, Friday, December 20, 2013

  St Fin Barres Cathedral, Cork

  Tickets no longer available