Given that I was going to be back in Ireland early for the weekend, Good Friday being a bank holiday in the UK - although not in Ireland - I was free to go to Limerick Choral Union's 50th anniversary concert, in the University Concert Hall, Limerick. It was nice to have something to go to on Good Friday, which tends to be low-key.
We usually eat in the Merry Pedlar pub, in the Castletroy Park Hotel, when we're going to the University Concert Hall - the hotel is right across the road and it's handy. But my meal there was so tasteless last time that we considered going to Finnegan's instead - we've often had a good meal there. And then it occurred to us that today was a "dry" day, when alcohol can't be sold - one of only two in the year, along with Christmas Day - and in consequence, many pubs close on those days. We weren't sure about Finnegan's, but given that it was out of our way, we decided not to risk it, but to try the Castletroy Park again instead, which was guaranteed to be open, being a hotel.
We were pleased to discover that they interpret the rule as allowing diners who are not residents one alcoholic drink with their meal - in our case, a small glass of wine each. We did notice that the pumps were covered, so I doubt your alcoholic drink could have been a pint. But we did see others with wine, or a bottle of beer or cider.
I was particularly hungry, so decided to have a starter, although we don't normally here, because the service is so slow. Soup of the day was vegetable (gee, what a surprise!) and I know their soup is good, so I ordered some, and the crispy chicken, which came with "creole mayonnaise". I asked them to leave out the coleslaw - I don't like to mix it with hot food. I think it's actually a good idea to order a starter here - otherwise, you might faint from hunger while waiting for the main course. Anyway, the soup was, indeed, excellent - as was the main course! The chicken tasted of something this time, and the mayonnaise that accompanied it was delicious. The potato wedges were a bit burnt, and a bit too spicy, but fine - and my mother's salmon was perfect, she testified. She was also very taken with the miniature saucepan that the sauce for her meal came in - she asks for it on the side. A recommendable meal this time - well done, folks!
We had a look at the dessert menu, but she didn't fancy anything, so we said we'd have an ice cream at the concert hall. The soup and salmon were on the special menu, unlike my chicken, so were priced as if the same person had them, which was nice of them, as it gave us a small discount. They're a little pricey there. But we were well satisfied, and had our ice creams at the concert hall while reading the souvenir programme. Despite the elderly gent, who, as I sat down, was convinced that I had his programme - he'd mistaken the table he'd left it at! (No alcohol here, BTW - the bar was all locked up.) We saw many red-gowned people about, and thought at first that there had been a conferring, since this is the building where they take place. But they turned out to be choir members, in their choir costumes.
We couldn't get our normal row, and were much closer to the stage than usual, albeit in a good position at the centre of the row. My mother was worried it'd be too loud for her, but I figured it wouldn't be over-amplified. They hadn't opened the balconies for tickets, so it was just the stalls, which were pretty much completely full. Apart from the seats in front of her, which remained unfilled - handily enough! She had an idea that a relative of a neighbour of ours was in this choir, and sure enough, as they filed onstage, she saw him - third from the left in the very back row. I counted 91 singers in total (although they claim 110). There was also an orchestra in front, a conductor, a grand piano and harpischord - both of which were played by the same person - and four soloists; a soprano, an alto, a tenor, and a baritone. Oh, and the mc. That's a lot of people - their very first concert, 50 years ago, was in St. Mary's Cathedral. The original member list was printed in the programme, and listed 84 people. That's a much smaller venue. They must have practically blown the roof off..
Well, the evening began with the mc wittering on. And he reappeared before every new piece. A bit monotonous. My mind started to drift during his speechifying, and then I started to recognise his voice. Sure enough, when we checked the programme at the interval, it turned out to be Lorcan Murray, a dj well known to anyone who listens to Lyric FM, which is based in Limerick. Other famous persons included the Lord Mayor, who sat in the front row, and the composers of the first piece, written about Limerick and debuted tonight. One of the composers - Mary Coll - is actually a choir member as well.
"And so to the music", as the man said. The first piece was "Spirestone", the aforementioned new work, commissioned especially for this show. As with most new classical music, it's a strange beast - but this one is rather inspiring, evocative of hundreds of years of Limerick's history. And then we were into more familiar territory, with a piece from Orfeo ed Euridice, a piece from Elijah, by Mendelssohn, and the big guns of Laudate Dominum (Mozart) and Stabat Mater (Verdi).
During the interval, the woman to my right asked me to confirm, from the programme, who the mc was - they'd been having a discussion about it. Then she wondered whether so-and-so was playing one of the trombones - she'd be surprised, he's the musical director at Mary Immaculate College, apparently! Sure enough, that was him.. indeed, the mc himself let us in on the fact that one of the chorists was his next-door neighbour - and he had never even known he was in the choir! Despite having lived next door for 15 years.. We also figured that Mary Coll's family were sitting just in front of us - she and the other composer had each got a floral presentation after its performance, and these people got to mind Mary's for the second half of the concert.
After the interval, we were treated to Mozart's Requiem. All four soloists were required for this, and I did notice that the alto seemed very nervous - she smiled too much, and her hand was shaking as she held the music. The tenor kept glancing across at her. Didn't affect her singing, though. Attagirl. The baritone, BTW, was a very smiley, bearded Hungarian.
Two things occurred to me during tonight's concert. Firstly, the standout performer, for me, was the soprano, Franzita Whelan, whose voice soared. She runs a music academy, apparently. On the basis of her performance, I'd have to recommend it. I think she was the only soloist who could probably be described as experienced, although the performances were all flawless. The second thing that occurred to me was - how ever can they expect people to be solemn and prayerful in the presence of such glorious music? It was breathtaking, and the extended standing ovation was well deserved.
Nothing specific planned for the rest of the weekend, although there's been talk of going to Flanagan's restaurant in Killaloe, and to see the film Calvary. We shall see. I'm not back to London until Tuesday night - the flights for Monday were prohibitively expensive, so I said I'd take Tuesday off and fly back then. For Wednesday, for now, it's looking like a film - I'm liking the look of Locke, the trailer looks excellent. Again, we shall see.
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