There’s much to enjoy at this year’s Ardee Baroque festival this coming weekend Friday 19 to Sunday 21 November with a full table of events celebrating early music in the historic town.
While it is great to see live events back up and running, the festival organisers think it is important to welcome people back slowly and make them feel safe, so the capacity has been reduced to 50% for all events.
From Friday 19 to Sunday 21 November inclusive, Ardee town comes alive with musicians and audiences descending to enjoy a weekend of Bach, Handel, Santiago De Murcia, Boccherini, Vivaldi and Purcell. One of the many exciting aspects of the festival is the amount of wonderful music from this era that is familiar and popular due to its use in Film and TV.
On Friday 19 November at 7:30pm, Musici Ireland will open the festival with a programme of Spanish-influenced works. Joined by Eamon Sweeney, they’ll play popular favourites such as Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto in D and Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet Fandango. A rare opportunity to hear these instantly familiar sounding and joyous works live.
Director Peter Whelan is among the most exciting and versatile performers of historical music of his generation, with a remarkable career as a conductor, keyboardist and solo bassoonist. Peter makes a welcome return to Ardee to direct the Irish Baroque Orchestra from the harpsichord with soprano Aisling Kenny and trumpeter Darren Cornish Moore. The Bright Seraphim is a celebratory and uplifting concert that includes two of Handel’s most famous arias Eternal Source of Light Divine and Let the Bright Seraphim and takes place at 7:30pm on Saturday 20 November.
Closing the weekend on Sunday 21 November at 4pm, Peter Whelan, Aisling Kenny and violinist Kinga Ujszaszi will perform a programme centred around Handel’s German Arias. A contrasting programme to their Saturday performance, this is will be an ambient close to the 2021 festival.
“It is always a pleasure for the Irish Baroque Orchestra to perform at Ardee Baroque Festival. St Mary’s Church is an intimate space with a beautiful acoustic which works particularly well for performances featuring period instruments and will be the ideal venue to enjoy soprano Aisling Kenny’s cherubic tones.” Peter Whelan, Director Irish Baroque Orchestra
All concerts take place in St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ardee. To ensure public safety and confidence, audience numbers will continue to be restricted. As per current guidelines, customers must present Vaccine certs as evidence of full vaccination or recovery from Covid-19 within the previous 6 months. Access is not permitted without it. The performances will last approximately 1 hour in duration and be performed without an interval. Facemasks are to be worn for the duration.
Full details on the Festival are available on www.ardeebaroque.com Tickets are on sale through An Táin Arts Centre, Crowe St, Dundalk, Co Louth +353 42 9332332 or www.antain.ie Booking charges apply.
The festival is funded by Louth County Council, Create Louth and the Arts Council.
Friday 19th November, 7:30pm, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ardee
Vivaldi: Guitar Concerto in D, RV93
Boccherini: String Quintet La Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid Op.30 No.6
Schop: Lachrimae Pavan
Santiago De Murcia: Jacaràs
Boccherini: Guitar Quintet Fandango
Tickets €18/ €15 conc.
Saturday 20th November, 7:30pm, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ardee
Handel: Let the Bright Seraphim
Handel: Sonata in G major, Op.5, No.4, HWV 399
Handel: Eternal Source of Light Divine
Handel: Concerto Grosso, Op.6, No.7, HWV 325
Bach: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen BWV 51
Tickets €18/ €15 conc.
Sunday 21st November, 4pm, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Ardee
Handel German Arias for soprano & continuo, HWV 202 – HWV 210 (arias 1,7,2,4,5 and 9)
Bieber: Passaglia
Mattheis: Interludes for solo violin
Purcell: Music for a while, Evening Hymn
