
Music for Galway presents: Homages and Literary Inspiration @ Midwinter Festival – Ravel
Midwinter Festival: Ravel
Frday 17 January to Sunday 19 January 2025
Town Hall Theatre, Galway
This January, Music for Galway celebrates 150 years since the birth of Maurice Ravel. The Midwinter Festival presents a wide-ranging survey of his solo piano, chamber and vocal music, as well as a new choreography of his world-famous Boléro, in partnership with Galway Dance.
The festival has invited Swiss pianist François-Xavier Poizat – currently recording all of Ravel’s piano and chamber music – to perform the bulk of the programmes together with violinist Gwendolyn Masin and cellist Benedict Kloeckner. Irish mezzo-soprano Gemma Ní Bhriain will also perform a selection of Ravel’s songs.
For details of each concert, see below. All tickets can be booked through the Town Hall Theatre.
PERFORMERS
François-Xavier Poizat, piano | Gwendolyn Masin, violin | Benedict Klöeckner, cello | Finghin Collins, piano |
Gemma Ni Bhriain, mezzo-soprano | Ríona Ó Duinnín, flute | Aneta Dortová, dance artist
THE MIDWINTER FESTIVAL IS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY AND THE EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND IN IRELAND
TICKETS
All tickets can be booked through the Town Hall Theatre.
Click the concert link below to buy tickets for that concert.
Prices
FRI 7.30pm, SAT 7.30pm and SUN 3.00pm: Standard €25.00
Concession €22.50 | Social Inclusion €12.50 | MfG Friends €21.00
Festival Ticket (includes all 3 concerts): Standard €70.00 | Concession €63.00. The festival ticket price is automatically applied once the 3 tickets are in the customer’s basket. The 3 tickets must be all standard tickets, or all concession tickets, to avail of the individual discounts(€70/€63). This does not include social inclusion tickets.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
FRIDAY 17 JANUARY at 7.30pm
HOMAGES AND LITERARY INSPIRATION
François-Xavier Poizat, piano | Finghin Collins, piano | Gemma Ni Bhriain, mezzo-soprano
This first concert presents early works of Ravel, starting with some simple piano works written as homages to other composers and finishing with one of his most punishing works – the famed Gaspard de la Nuit inspired by poetry by Aloysius Bertrand. In between we hear some early songs and one of Ravel’s most popular works, the Mother Goose Suite for piano duet.
SATURDAY 18 JANUARY at 7.30pm
Pre-concert talk at 7.00pm with François-Xavier Poizat
FOLKLORE
François-Xavier Poizat, piano | Gwendolyn Masin, violin | Benedict Kloeckner, cello | Finghin Collins, piano |
Gemma Ni Bhriain, mezzo-soprano
This concert of works from 1910 to 1920 celebrates Ravel’s French and Basque heritage. Following three movements from the Memorial to Couperin for solo piano, we hear the Sonata for violin and cello, dedicated to Claude Debussy, with whom Ravel had an ambiguous relationship. The second half of the concert features one of the composer’s great masterpieces, the Piano Trio. Composed as Europe was descending into World War One, it is admired for its ‘Basque influences, shimmering colours, exoticism, fleeting shadows, and an underlying sense of quiet lament.’ (Timothy Judd).
SUNDAY 19 JANUARY at 3pm
EXOTIC INFLUENCES
François-Xavier Poizat, piano | Gwendolyn Masin, violin | Benedict Kloeckner, cello | Finghin Collins, piano |
Gemma Ni Bhriain, mezzo-soprano | Ríona Ó Duinnín, flute | Aneta Dortová, dance artist
For the final concert, the festival turns to more exotic flavours in Ravel’s output. Following some early settings of traditional Greek melodies, we focus on Ravel’s later works – his violin sonata with its American jazz and blues influences, the three Madagascan songs with flute and cello, and Tziagne, a virtuosic violin work inspired by gypsy tunes.
The weekend festival finishes with Ravel’s most famous work: the Spanish-influenced Boléro, one of the final works he completed before illness prevented him from working. The work is presented in the composer’s piano duet version, with new choreography by Aneta Dortová in partnership with Galway Dance.
MIDWINTER FESTIVAL ACCOMMODATION PACKAGE
Give yourself or a loved one the gift of a perfect weekend!
After the excitement of Christmas is over, look forward to a relaxing weekend of fabulous music while staying in the The Ardilaun Hotel, nestled in Galway’s suburbs, in a secluded setting in leafy Taylor’s Hill just 5 minutes from Galway City and Galway Bay, Salthill.
You can avail of the following offer with any Midwinter Festival concert ticket. You will receive the booking code in your ticket email.
Double/Twins- Bed & breakfast at €150 per night
Triples- Bed & Breakfat at €190 per night
Singles – Bed & Breakfast at €135 per night
All rates include free car parking & full use of our Leisure Centre & swimming pool.
For further details on Midwinter Festival: Ravel, visit www.musicforgalway.ie.