Reviews

Fri Aug 16 2024
Kilkenny Arts Festival
Irish Chamber Orchestra
Thomas Zehetmair: Conductor
St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny
★★★★☆

Deep, detailed performances in a setting that brings out the best in Vaughan Williams’s fantasia

Kilkenny Arts Festival 2024: The programme features Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Errollyn Wallen’s Dances for Orchestra

Irish Chamber Orchestra: principal conductor Thomas Zehetmair. Photograph: Wolfgang Schmidt Ammerbuch

English music has never been high up the agenda in concerts by the Irish Chamber Orchestra. So it is quite a novelty for the ICO to open its concert at Kilkenny Arts Festival on Thursday with Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and follow it with the first Irish performance of Errollyn Wallen’s Dances for Orchestra, a commission with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Swedish Chamber Orchestra that was premiered in Edinburgh last November.

The Tallis fantasia was also commissioned by a festival, the Three Choirs, for performance at Gloucester Cathedral in 1910. The music, which the composer later revised (the version we know today is from 1919), is based on a theme that Vaughan Williams had set to new words in The English Hymnal, and in the fantasia he scored it for the luscious sounds of two string orchestras and string quartet.

The piece almost has the spaciousness of a cathedral acoustic built into its stately pacing, as well as something of the swelling radiance of sound that cathedrals so readily provide. Hearing the warm account of Thomas Zehetmair, the orchestra’s principal conductor, in an actual cathedral is a real pleasure.

Dances for Orchestra: Errollyn Wallen. Photograph: Azzurra Primavera

In 1998, Wallen, the Belize-born British composer, became the first black woman to have a work performed at the BBC Proms in London (more than 100 years into the festival’s existence); more recently she ruffled feathers with a reworking and rewording of Jerusalem for the Last Night of the Proms.

Her new Dances for Orchestra are altogether less controversial, a buzzy, energetic, whirlwind dance tour, with contemporary rhythmic kinks and bright colouring, mostly agreeably upbeat but not particularly striking.

Zehetmair’s predecessor at the ICO, Jörg Widmann, favoured a highly pressured, fiercely driven and sometimes flat-surfaced approach to the Viennese classics. Zehetmair’s music-making is more measured and has more space, more time and much greater sophistication in expressive nuancing. That’s not to say that he shortchanges moments of climax. But the impression he makes is deep, detailed and unforced.

Michael Dervan is a music critic and Irish Times contributor

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The Irish Chamber Orchestra - February 2024 - UCH, Limerick
Killian Farrell - Conductor
Sharon Carty - Mezzo-Soprano
The Stones of Life

Last weekend, the Irish Chamber Orchestra began its 2024 season with concerts at University Concert Hall, Limerick, on 9 February and the new Whyte Recital Hall at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, on 10 February, featuring mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty and led by the young Irish conductor Killian Farrell. The whole programme took on the rough shape of a classical work, with bright symphonies by Prokofiev and Mozart bookending more sombre works by Mahler and Deirdre Gribbin.

Farrell may be young, but he already has quite extensive experience under his belt, particularly as an opera conductor in Germany, and having led performances of Donnacha Dennehy’s The Second Violinist here in Ireland. This was, however, my first time seeing his work, and I entered the concert hall wondering where his approach would fall on the spectrum of cautious to adventurous. I have to admit that my first impression left me apprehensive, with the first movement of Prokofiev’s first symphony taken at a rather reserved pace for its allegro. That said, while it was – for me – too slow, it was by no means sluggish, with the orchestra achieving a bright and strident sound, and the tempo allowed some very nice detail in the balancing of the parts, with some pretty moments which in very quick recordings are gone in the blink of an eye.

Killian Farrell and the Irish Chamber Orchestra (Photo: Irish Chamber Orchestra)

Farrell’s choices

The remaining three movements worked very well, with a luxurious slow movement and bouncy gavotte. And there was absolutely no evidence of wariness in the sprint of the final movement, with its almost concerto-like flute passages, and its conclusion hit the exact right brightness of tone.

The Prokofiev was balanced at the end of the programme by Mozart’s equally exuberant, though much more substantial, ‘Jupiter’ symphony. Here again I wasn’t fully convinced by Farrell’s choices in the first movement; specifically, he took the contrasted motifs which open the movement at very different tempi, the lyrical second motif far slower than the opening strident one. While I can see the effect he was aiming for here, emphasising the contrast, it felt rather like over-egging the cake. That the tempi aligned in the recapitulation may have been intended as a harmonious conjunction, but the result was rather incongruous.

Like the Prokofiev, though, my objections (which you may take as pedantic if you like) end at the first movement. The remaining three were bright and colourful, with the orchestra perfectly balanced in the ebullient counterpoint of the finale.

Between the two symphonies were darker-hued works by Deirdre Gribbin and Gustav Mahler, both of which featured mezzo soprano Sharon Carty. ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’, from the loose collection Rückert-Lieder is among Mahler’s most touching songs, and between Carty’s velvety, expressive voice and the orchestra’s beautifully poised sound, this was delicately heartbreaking. This also allowed the orchestra to show its more lyrical side, with harp and cor anglais featured. The new recital hall’s clear, dry acoustic was also a major benefit here even more than in the preceding works, a good match for Mahler’s layered orchestration, his sensitivity to instrumental texture and contrapuntal line.

Gribbin’s The Stones of Life is a clearly personal work, a cycle of six songs setting words by her 18-year-old poet son Ethan Stein, who has Down syndrome. As the composer describes, this cognitive difference leads him to explore the world ‘using imagistic words and phrases which are outside the norm of description.’ There is indeed a real descriptive beauty to the poetry’s short lines: ‘I stand / Not looking, / Up into the sky, / Snowflakes falling on my eye’ or ‘Koalas clung, towards each other, / Crying silk tears.’

Gribbin underscores these words with gentle textural music for string orchestra, often imagistic in its own way. ‘Winter’, the first song in the cycle, is high and cold, while there is a sense of desolation and despair in the third and fourth, ‘Grieving Elephants’ and ‘Bushfire’. But there’s a loose narrative through-line in the cycle as well, ending in hope, in a glistening extended major chord: ‘I climbed on high land, / Reaching strength, / Feeling safe, / The Wind and Dust.’

Sharon Carty, Ethan Stein and Deirdre Gribbin (Photo: Irish Chamber Orchestra)

Throughout the concert, Farrell was a dynamic and engaged conductor, and an effective communicator with the orchestra, and his understanding of the mood of the music, whether yearning Mahler or Prokofievian fireworks, was always deep. The orchestra, for their own part, played with a keenly developed sense of balance and clarity, and the programme was colourful, balanced and coherent. As a first concert for the season, the Irish Chamber Orchestra have set themselves a high standard.

Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2022
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh – Vocals
Paul Campbell – Conductor
Dónal O’Connor – Producer
Róisín Re-imagined (CD Release 10 March)

“Nic Amhlaoibh and Irish Chamber Orchestra have found the sweetest of spots in which to collaborate, always letting the songs dictate the pace and mood, but opening them up to new horizons under the watchful eyes of these wisely chosen composers, and steered by producer Dónal O’Connor” - Siobhan Long – Irish Times

The Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2020 - UCH, Limerick
Katherine Hunka - Director/Violin
Finghin Collins - Piano
Dermot Dunne - Accordion
BACH WITH A BANG!

“The musicians, all masters of their instruments, played as if their lives (and ours) depended on it, lifting us beyond ourselves, putting us in touch with what we were, what we are and what we will be”. - Jim O’ Brien, The Farming Independent

Irish Chamber Orchestra - April 2020
Katherine Hunka - Director
PIAZZOLLA-SCHNITTKE-SCHUBERT CD

“Hunka is a dynamic soloist and director with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and they also offer some elegant Schubert and astringent Schnittke, the latter wittily “staged” via a few extra sound effects”. - The Guardian

“Throughout this extremely challenging programme, Katherine Hunka produces a beguiling- melt-in-the-mouth sonority on her Grancino violin. The enchanting Schubert Rondo is by no means the most felicitous of violin works, yet Hunka makes it sound utterly radiant, producing a subtly inflected, silvery purity, enhanced by a magical instinct for cantabile and flawless intonation…”. - Julian Haycock BBC Music Magazine

“The lyrical cool of Oblivion has rarely sounded so achingly seductive”. - Julian Haycock BBC Music Magazine

“Hunka’s pure tone and silky, insouciant legato phrasing are beguiling – what a startling change after the grit, grain and frisson of the Piazzolla! – and the ICO are terrifically responsive, always rhythmically alert, with propulsive dynamic contrasts and flexible tempi”. - Claire Seymour, MusicWeb International

“She (Katherine Hunka) creates an impression of wilful, crisp assertiveness – the jagged lines retain their swagger – but the ensemble sneakily quell her elaborations, luring her back into the accelerating swirl which races excitedly to the close." - Claire Seymour, MusicWeb International

Irish Chamber Orchestra - December 2019
Katherine Hunka, Director
Robin Tritschler, Tenor
ARIAS & ADVENT

“The ICO brings along something of the wildness of its Shannonside home, as the players begin the concert in anything but a conventional formation…….. with musicians processing and playing in response to each other, in a dynamic mix of music and movement devised by violinist Diane Daly”. - (Albinoni/Adagio) Michael Lee, Golden Plec

“This is a work (Dies Natalis) that calls for bold string playing, and it receives it
here, with the slow movement beautifully moving”. - Michael Lee, Golden Plec

“It ends a fun and stimulating night with an ensemble unafraid to express its personality, earning enthusiastic applause”. - Michael Lee, Golden Plec


Irish Chamber Orchestra - November 2019
Jorg Widmann - Conductor
Claron McFadden - Soprano
US TOUR: ZANKEL HALL, CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK

“Widmann played to the ICO, looking at them swaying with the rhythms, having a good time…In effect, it was the entertainment of numbers, endless equations presented like a dazzling cosmic light-show”. - Harry Rolnick, Concertonet.com

“Overall, as rendered by the ICO under Widmann’s precise baton, the music sounded fresh and full of energy…Widmann expertly underlined both witty little details – the strings whip their bows in the air in canon – and the overall arc of the score with its superb interplay between soprano and instrumentalists…Widmann relied more on leader Katherine Hunka, focusing on his clarinet playing and charming the listeners not only with his devilish technique and tremendous dynamic range, but also with humor and the ability to bring an almost vocal quality to the melodies”. - Edward Sava-Segal, Bachtrack

US TOUR: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON DC

“The enthusiasm with which musicians attack their craft can be infectious. The Irish Chamber Orchestra, a small group based around 18 string players, made a strong case for all the music they played in a vivacious concert…The last facet of the program featured sheer delight in rhythmic drive…This virtuosic display brought out whiffs of techno music in the pulsing bass line and folk music verve…With over-expressive cues and leaning gestures, Widmann shaped sectional contours in Felix Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 8.” - Charles Downey, Washington Post

Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2019
Sinéad O’Connor - Singer
FÉILE ’19

“Accompanied by the Irish Chamber Orchestra O’Connor summons a one-person weather-front of emotion”. - Irish Times

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra accompanied Sinead and have really added to a magnificent performance which also included a fantastic rendition of The Parting Glass and of course, the iconic Nothing Compares to You”. - Noel Dundon, Tipp Live


Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2019
Brett Dean -Conductor
SHORT STORIES

“In the atmospheric worlds conjured up by his own, genuinely compact Short Stories, he (Brett Dean) was a peerless guide”. - Michael Dervan, Irish Times


Irish Chamber Orchestra - August 2019
Thomas Zehetmair - Director/Violin
Ruth Killios - Violin
KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL – BRITTEN /BEETHOVEN

“The ICO has flourished in recent years under a string of high-profile conductors, including Jörg Widmann, but few of their concerts have matched the dramatic intensity of this one, the closing orchestral concert of the annual Kilkenny Arts Festival”. - Michael Roddy, Bachtrack

Irish Chamber Orchestra - August 2019
Katherine Hunka - Director
KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL – BRITTEN

“The players ….found the right expressive mode in David Fennessy’s Hirta Rounds, a force-of-nature response, birds and all, to a visit to the island of Hirta off the Scottish coast”. - Michael Dervan, Irish Times

Irish Chamber Orchestra - June 2019
Jorg Widmann - Conductor / Clarinet
SOUTH AMERICA TOUR

“Without baton or platform, the director produced an exhibition that in synthesis seemed very lively, colorful and vital” - La Prensa, Buenos Aires

“The justified ovation marked the end of the evening. Nobody needed more.” - Donato Decina, Criticos Musicales, Buenos Aires

“The music was powerful….. the Schumann Second Symphony excited and convinced in good hands.” - Pablo Bardin, para Música Clásica BA, Buenos Aires


Irish Chamber Orchestra - May 2019
Irish National Opera Irish National Opera Chorus
Peter Whelan / Sinead Hayes - Conductor
Caroline Staunton - Director
Ciaran Bagnall - Set & Lighting
Katie Davenport - Costumes
Sinead Hayes - Chorus Director
THE MAGIC FLUTE

“And the conductor and Baroque specialist Peter Whelan maximised its impact of delight, drawing from the Irish Chamber Orchestra the kind of crisp, zesty energy associated with period performance. It riveted you, and you sat there thinking, this feels like it’s going to be very good. And it was. Whelan and his players maintained their vivid Mozart throughout, lithely partnering the singing, antics and moralising on stage”. - Michael Dungan, Irish Times

“Musically and dramatically, the production could hardly be bettered, with the Irish Chamber Orchestra under Peter Whelan’s expertise delivering superbly”. - Emer O Kelly, Sunday Independent

“Mozart’s beguiling and ingenious music drives the story forward in sometimes surprising ways, and it is beautifully played tonight by the Irish Chamber Orchestra,
Peter Whelan conducting players and singers alike with energy and warmth. The
colours of this score are a constant delight, with the woodwind and brass tones
adding a vibrant hue”. - Michael Lee, Golden Plec

“Conductor Peter Whelan elicited a fine, taut performance from the Irish Chamber Orchestra, imbuing the score with vim and vigour in the robust moments and warm lyricism in the quieter parts. I don’t think I have ever heard the overture taken at
quite such a pace, but it did possess that nervous energy that gave me a frisson of excitement. Overall, this was an enjoyable, satisfying performance that revelled in the opera’s many quirky moments”. - Andrew Larkin, Bachtrack

“Staunton’s production is a notable musical success thanks to
the sensitive orchestration of the Irish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Peter
Whelan”. - nomoreworkhorse.com


Irish Chamber Orchestra - April 2019
Jörg Widmann - Conductor
Chamber Choir Ireland, Genia Kühmeier, Anna Devin & Colin Balzer
WEBER & MENDELSSOHN

“Conductor Jörg Widmann drove the piece with high energy. The choral singing was first rate. And the vocal soloists – sopranos Genia Kühmeier and Anna Devin, and tenor Colin Balzer – projected strongly and musically.” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times

Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2019
Thomas Zehetmair, Conductor/Violin
MOSTLY MOZART

“Zehetmair sounded as if he wanted his Mozart to make a difference, through the urgency of its expressiveness, the overtly interventionist micro-detailing of dynamics and articulation.” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra’s concert ended with Mozart’s Symphony No 29 in A, as astonishingly mature a work as has ever been created by a teenager (Mozart was just 18 when he completed it in 1774). It was here that Zehetmair’s energy seemed to find its best musical match.” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times


Irish Chamber Orchestra - February 2019
Jörg Widmann
VOICES FROM THE EDGE

“In the same week, the Irish Chamber Orchestra under Jörg Widmann, at Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday, went for big-boned impression-seeking in Beethoven (a performance of the Grosse Fuge with real grunt), Korngold (the rich-textured Symphonic Serenade), and Mendelssohn (a highly energised account of the ninth of the teenage String Symphonies), with Widmann’s own Aria providing some contrasting filigree.” – Michael Dervan, Irish Times

Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2018, Dublin
Jean Christophe Spinosi
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN

“..Spinosi’s relentless energy did seem to radiate outwards generating an upbeat, vibrant atmosphere – a quality that seems to have become something of an ICO trademark.” - Adrian Smith, The Journal of Music

“…the orchestra deserve great credit for maintaining their policy of commissioning new work and integrating it alongside pieces from the standard repertoire, thus setting an example that certain other state-funded orchestras would do well to replicate.” - Adrian Smith, The Journal of Music

Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2018, Dublin
Chamber Choir Ireland
STABAT MATER

“The performance was riveting from start to finish” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times


Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2018, Tipperary
The Stunning, An Emotional Fish, The Hothouse Flowers, The 4ofUs, The Frank & Walters
FEILE CLASSICAL

“It’s a beautifully balanced set with the delicate opening trio of Aeroplanes, Time is on the Wall and Julian bedecked with the luxurious strings of the ICO and backing vocals of Ciara Meade before they unleash the perfect howling storm of Lace Virginia….and Féile Classical finally feels like a proper concert. “ - Golden Plec

“That sets the scene for the onslaught of Brewing Up a
Storm with the ICO unleashing some ferocious strings and percussion
accompanying Steve Wall and the gang to deliver an overpowering set
finale”. ­- Golden Plec

Irish Chamber Orchestra - August 2018, Kilkenny Arts Festival
Jorg Widmann - Conductor
Caroline Widmann -Violin
LATER BEETHOVEN SERIES

“an eloquent and imaginative account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times

“Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony had a tautness of energy, sometimes touched with fierceness that kept one on the edge of one’s seat” - Michael Dervan, Irish Times


Irish Chamber Orchestra - April 2018
Irish National Opera
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

“Under his (Peter Whelan’s) guidance the Irish Chamber Orchestra in the pit becomes a character in its own right, not just driving and supporting the drama, but effectively commenting on it, too. Whelan doesn’t just glory in Mozart’s gorgeous writing for wind instruments. He shapes and frames phrases in ways that seem entirely fresh, sometimes generating a growl or a mutter, sometimes acting like a powerful spur to energise the action on the stage………. The brio and the poignancy of the orchestral music-making is well matched by the responsiveness of both singing and acting.” -Michael Dervan, Irish Times

“He (Patrick Mason) was abetted by the conductor Peter Whelan, who coaxed fleet playing from the Irish Chamber Orchestra” - Hugh Canning Sunday Times

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra delivered with its usual panache under conductor Peter Whelan” - Dick O Riordan, Sunday Business Post

“Conductor Peter Whelan and the Irish Chamber Orchestra gave what was an invigorating performance, full of energy and lightness of touch....The balance was well struck between singers and orchestra allowing the glorious vocal lines to soar.” - Andrew Larkin, Backtrack

“Under Patrick Mason’s direction and the baton of Peter Whelan, this is an evening of unalloyed pleasure from beginning to end." - Patrick Viale, No More Workhouse

Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2018
Jorg Widmann - Principal Conductor
Elisabeth Leonskaja - Piano
HEIDELBERG FRÜHLING FESTIVAL

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra has spoiled the Heidelberger Frühling: with the beauty of their music and with the incredible enthusiasm in their music making. This would be unimaginable without their first guest principal conductor Jörg Widmann who again brought his clarinet with him”. - Rhein-Neckar, Zeitung

“Widmann’s energy doesn’t seem to have any boundaries, he simply motivates everyone around him, be it the hard working shining brass, the zippy violins or the juicy explosions in sound.” - Rhein-Neckar, Zeitung

“Widmann pushes down the order of events, step by step, all the way into the cellar. What an evening!” - Rhein-Neckar, Zeitung

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra follows him (Widmann) unconditionally.” – Mannheimer Morgen

Irish Chamber Orchestra - September 2017
Gábor Tákacs - Nagy Conductor
Alex Petcu - Percussion

“Indeed it’s hard to fault any aspect of the orchestra’s
performance…The one thing that was abundantly evident throughout this concert
was the good rapport that existed between the conductor and the players…”
– Adrian Smith, The Journal of Music


Irish Chamber Orchestra & Opera Collective Ireland - September 2017
Stephen Barlow - Conductor

“…great work by the young cast and the ICO…the vividness of
the contribution of the Irish Chamber Orchestra under the alert baton of
Stephen Barlow” – Michael Dervan, Irish Times

“The ensemble, members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, brings
out the colours of Britten’s score beautifully….” – Golden Plec

“Musically, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, under conductor
Stephen Barlow, is exquisite, releasing the full richness of Britten’s often
difficult score with great success” – The Arts Review

“Owen Wingrave delivers several such moments of beauty, along
with a top class orchestra and ensemble.” – The Arts Review


Irish Chamber Orchestra (Orfeo CD) - June 2017
Mojca Erdmann
Jörg Widmann

“A thrilling recording from the first to the last bar”– Chris Vratz, CD-Journal Fono Forum

“A lith, disciplined performance of Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony, played on modern instruments with the lean-toned sensitivities of period instrument players, is followed by a shape-changing orchestration/re-writing of the Andante from Mendelssohn’s early Clarinet Sonata. Classy musical time-travelling.” – Michael Dervan, Irish Times



Irish Chamber Orchestra - May 2017
Northern Ireland Opera
Radamisto

“Appetite duly whetted, expectations raised, this was a Radamisto securely rooted in David Brophy’s sure footed, sensitive and sleek conducting of an Irish Chamber
Orchestra on ravishingly idiomatic form”. – Opera Magazine

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra, under David Brophy’s flowing direction, play as
stylishly as ever, though the smooth sound of their modern instruments
inevitably adds to the sense of a meanly-sliced expressive palette”. – Michael Lee Golden Plec

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra under David Brophy played with
terrific verve and élan in support of the seven-strong cast all who seem very
comfortable in their roles”.

“This collaboration with the renowned Irish Chamber Orchestra was received with great enthusiasm in Limerick…”

“Brophy and the ICO were crisp and double-dotted from the start, not as frantic as is the current Brito-Hibernian fashion, but fully in tune with the pathos and particular colouring of this piece; I’d not heard Brophy conduct Handel before but this was gorgeously and sensitively phrased, sparkling and fiery where required (and with some excellently jagged lightning-bolts and fireworks in the cascading da capos) but giving and tender at those places where Handel holds out a comforting hand to his suffering characters in the form of a cello or oboe to guide them through their grieving”. – Robert Thicknesse Critics Circle


Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2017, Konzerthaus Vienna
Jorg Widmann/ Igor Levit
VIENNESE DEBUT

“What they have in common, though reasonably popular choices all, is that they are a refreshing combination of serious musicianship, well away from the comfy-cozy coterie of the ever-same, predictably marketable but often musically boring artists that invariably clog much of the circuit with that nice, grinning, PR-smooth and utterly unoriginal feeling” – Jens F. Laurson, Forbes

“But beyond loud and fast, dynamic extremes and pointed phrasing, the whole performance was so articulate as to have breathed a whole new interpretative air this, Mendelssohn’s third-most ignored, symphony.” – Jens F. Laurson, Forbes

“the orchestra is an experimental orchestra with an innovative conductor”. – The Wienar Zeitung Katarina Wappel

“A vivid account of the Reformation Symphony brought a spell-binding evening to a close”.

“There is a taut vivacity to the playing of this orchestra that’s easily traced to the geniality of the group” – George Hamilton, The Irish Independent


Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2017
Jorg Widmann/ Igor Levit
HEIDELBERG FRÜHLING FESTIVAL

“It was the conductor, Widmann, with an orchestra, who took over the dominant part with the opening of the opera and the strings. Levit himself enthralled his audience with an extraordinarily velvety stroke, which was more like a delicate pushing of the keys, which with a delicate tone design a wonderfully fine-spun sound language”.


Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2017, NCH Dublin
Jorg Widmann/ Igor Levit

“Widmann and the players of the ICO matched him (Levit) in scale and style wherever he chose to go” – Michael Dervan, Irish Times


Irish Chamber Orchestra - March 2017, Dublin
Jorg Widmann
Sergei Nakariakov
ORFEO CD REVIEWS

“Rarely has the music by Mendelssohn sounded more fresh: The works by Jörg Widmann appeal even to concertgoers who have difficulties with contemporary music”

“Here the wealth of melody in Mendelssohn’s music becomes a resounding feast of sound which remains compact and detailed throughout due to the precise and refined playing by the Irish Chamber Orchestra.”

“Obviously the creative communication between Widmann and his
ensemble (Irish Chamber Orchestra) works extremely well which makes for an
exciting future” – Spiegel

“Widmann gives a sparking account of the two Mendelssohn
Symphonies Nos 1 and 4” – Pizzicato

“The Irish Chamber Orchestra sounds ring with vigour and freshness” – Crescendo
Magazine

“In Mendelssohn’s symphonies, the musicians have their opportunity to shine: captivating music making combining sensitive tenderness, sharp attacks and a vibrant sound production always serves great clarity in the music; it gleams and sparkles
everywhere”. – Klassik-heute.com