Friday 17 April 2015

The Callino Quartet & Soprano Ailish Tynan

Since I was in town for the opera on Wednesday anyway, and for the rest of the week, I checked to see whether anything else was on. Fortuitously, I came upon a concert last night by the Callino Quartet, with soprano Ailish Tynan - the first time I've come across something suitable at the Limetree! So I booked us two seats in Row O - the one with an aisle running in front. The tickets were conveniently printable at home.

Cue much frantic searching for the best route there, since I'd never been! I knew it was on the campus of Mary Immaculate teacher training college - "Mary I", as it's known - but I never had cause to go there either. Google Maps was happy to provide me a route - but when I checked it on Streetview, I discovered it took me around the back, and depended on gates being unlocked! The best directions finally came from the theatre website - and told me how to get to the main entrance. I've complained to Google Maps - they have a handy complaints feature on their directions now, where you can complain about specific steps they suggest, and you can state why they're a problem.

Then I checked around the area, and it seemed there wasn't anywhere suitable nearby to eat. So we decided to eat in the Abbey Tavern, as usual. There had been a big funeral there today, but they'd all cleared out by the time we got there, and we had a lovely meal. We were in plenty of time, so ordered dessert - and my mother was intrigued by the option of bread and butter pudding, which she hasn't had in an age. It was a hit! and I do believe she'll be having more in future..

Now, I've never had to go from Quin to Limerick before, so we asked our server for advice. The useful maps app on my phone - accessible because of the good WiFi in the bar - showed me we weren't far from the motorway, and she was able to tell us which direction to head in to get there. I scoured my phone for info on where the motorway would take us in the city - I hadn't planned to be coming from that direction. I plotted a course to link up with the directions I'd decided on last night, and we were off!

It was a lovely, sunny evening for a drive. The road from Quin to the motorway was narrow and winding, and my mother was greatly impressed by the size of the houses along the way! Affluent residents, here. We then barrelled along the motorway for a while, until it petered out into a dual carriageway. I carefully watched for my turn-off (the R445), and started to get worried when the signs for the toll plaza appeared - but no, I had determined to turn off at the last possible place before it, luckily! and after some considerable time snaking our way along that road, we found ourselves in the city centre.

Now I was glad of my knowledge of the city - it's tricky driving around unfamiliar urban areas. So I knew what street I was on at any given time, I knew where I was headed, and I kinda knew which lane I was supposed to be in. I'd decided to approach the college via the Dock Road - it'd be a left-turn from there. All I had to do was take the correct left turn - and this is where Google Maps turned up trumps! Yes, I knew the road name - but I couldn't see that before I made my turn. Instead, I was looking for Irish Wire Products on the right, followed by a petrol station on the left, and the turn would be just after that.

And so it proved. And in no time at all, we were turning in the main entrance to the campus. My mother - who'd never been there before either - expressed surprise that it was so big! She'd expected something like one building. Anyway, the website instructions had been marvellously specific - follow the road as it veers to the right, and the theatre is in the modern building ahead. Parking is to the left - the first car park is paid, the others are free.

So it was something of a disappointment to find that all the car parks had barriers, and a sign saying that there was an exit tariff of €3. Well anyway, I entered the second car park and parked as close as possible to what seemed to be the building entrance. My mother wasn't up to traipsing around without a guarantee of somewhere to sit, and it was too early for the house to be open, so I set off on my own reconnaissance mission. When I entered the building, the first sight to greet me was a daunting flight of steps! Huge, they were. It soon became apparent that the actual steps were to the sides, and the giant steps in the middle were actually benches. Still, I knew my mother wouldn't like it - or the fact that, at the top (where the the theatre is), you have to climb another level for Row O and back. Still, there was a lift - and when I returned to the theatre bottom level, I saw another door, at that level and round the back of the building. And yes, we could use it!

Seating was another matter. Apart from the extravagant seating feature that looked like steps, there was virtually no seating to be had. There was a bar - but I could only see a solitary seat, beside a table across from the bar, where they had milk and sugar to go with your tea or coffee, if you had one. So I scarpered to get my mother and secure the seat before anyone else did. Which we did. I sat her in it, popped to the bar for what turned out to be a very nice glass of white wine, and stood beside her for the long wait for the house to open. During which time the guy brandishing the free programmes gave us a couple. And we agreed that it's very poor, not having any seating in the lobby of a theatre venue. So many of the patrons were elderly, and frankly, the bar would do better business if its customers could sit down.

We were right around the other side from where we were supposed to go in, but as it happened, the crowd was so small that they only opened the door beside where we were. When she took our tickets, the lady warned us that we'd have quite a climb from there - but there was a very small crowd, and we could sit further down. So we, and several others who'd booked seats at the back, waited until the others had gone in, and were then taken in, in order of arrival, to choose our own. We ended up third row from the stage, on the aisle - just as well, because my mother found the legroom quite snug,

Seats were comfy enough otherwise, and it's a nice little theatre. The programme was as follows:

Haydn: String Quartet in C Op. 54 No. 2
Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2 Op. 10
Interval
Brahms: String Quartet in C Minor Op. 51 No. 1
Mozart: Exsultate, Jubilate

So, to begin, we were treated to a charming piece by Haydn. It was great, as I remarked to my mother, to be seated so close. I remember a classical concert I attended once, where a young couple was seated beside me. At the interval, he went out, and she turned to me and gushed about how wonderful it was, how she'd never been to a classical concert before, how she hadn't realised they put so much effort in! That occurred to me last night, as I watched them pour themselves into the music. It was a delight.

At the end of the piece, they went off for a little break, and the soprano came on to have a word with us. She hoped we'd enjoyed the last piece, because, as she said, that's all of that we'd have until the next half! She explained the background to the next piece - how the composer's wife ran off with their friend, then returned to her husband and her lover committed suicide. How all this happened around the time of the composition of the piece, and all that pain and grief and passion comes out in the music. How they had a ball rehearsing it, but it's atonal and not to everyone's taste- but she hoped we'd give it a chance.

Sure enough, atonal and passionate it was. Interesting, though. And the soprano came on in the third movement - we had the lyrics in our programmes, both in English and German, to follow along. And I literally jumped when she started. She blew the roof off. It's a long time since I heard a female singer of that calibre, and the last time I heard anything like this, I wasn't nearly as close. You've heard of voices that can shatter glass? This was one. She has a huge voice, and we sat and gawped. Wow. She was in a different league to the singer on Wednesday night - and that performance was packed, while this had a few handfuls of people. My mother remarked afterwards that she supposed it had suffered from being the night after the opera, in the same city.

Same format for the second half - one piece with just the quartet, one with the soprano. Oh, she was a joy to listen to, and we were delighted to give them all a standing ovation at the end. Watch out for that one.. As we left the car park, we discovered that the barrier had been raised. So it was free after all! Unfortunately, my mother - who's always forgetting it anyway - had left her cushion behind. So she's decided it's not worth a special trip back to Limerick, and I have to search Amazon for another. Hey-ho.. Anyway, we were late going to bed, and I was too tired to blog last night.

So, I'm back to London on Sunday. On Monday I'm off to After Electra, in the Tricycle. On Tuesday, I'm going to a talk on Palestinian cinema, hosted by the Film Nite Meetup group. I'm passing on the £35 wine and canape reception afterwards though. I don't think I'm the only one - yesterday, we all got an email from the organiser, saying that we might find it expensive, but it is happening in Soho House, which is a private members' club. Mmm, yes, fine. I still don't think it's worth it. And he pointed out how if you pay £100 for the term, you get the receptions for free! Great - I'm still not buying. Anyway, on Wednesday, I'm joining the Central London Outdoor Group for a walk around the City, to see where they used to have horses, back in the day..

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