The Irish Chamber Orchestra returns to the University of Limerick Concert Hall on Wednesday May 14 with violinist Carolin Widmann for an evening centred on the music of Joseph and Michael Haydn, before the programme travels to the Whyte Recital Hall at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin the following evening.
Widmann, a performer well known to ICO audiences, brings a quality that shifts from the tender and intimate to the dazzling and fiery, and her return is expected to rekindle the chemistry and shared sense of adventure that has marked previous appearances with the orchestra.
At the heart of the Limerick programme is Joseph Haydn’s Violin Concerto No. 4, a work bubbling with wit and charm that promises to be playful and conversational in Widmann’s hands. Alongside it, the ICO shines a light on the seldom-heard Michael Haydn with his Symphony MH 287, a piece bursting with humour and youthful energy. Placing the two brothers side by side offers audiences a revealing glimpse into a remarkable musical legacy.
The evening closes with Joseph Haydn’s celebrated Farewell Symphony, elegant, mischievous and unexpectedly moving, its famous closing moments among the most distinctive in the classical repertoire.
Tickets for the UCH Limerick performance on May 14 are available through the venue box office.