From Salzburg to Kraków, a rich musical programme to raise the spirits

The Derravaragh Music Association (DMA) have announced details of their concert on January 25 at Tullynally Castle, when the chamber group, Ficino Ensemble, perform rarely heard music by Mozart, McKay and Penderecki.

This first concert of 2024 starts at 7pm (doors open 6.30pm). Tickets are €28 (half price U18s) and available through the Derravaragh Music website. derravaraghmusic.ie.

Mozart’s noble and epic Divertimento for String Trio and Irish composer Deirdre McKay’s atmospheric Between will set the stage for the dynamic and evocative Sextet by the late Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki for which the ensemble will be joined by pianist Finghin Collins.

Finghin is a regular performer for DMA audiences. His most recent concert (part of his Wanderer Tour) was a sell-out success in November 2021. He will join the Ficino ensemble to play The Sextet by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, a two-movement composition for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello, and piano.

The composition was written in 2000 and is, according to some critics, the composer’s most substantial chamber work. The DMA team hope that the concert will be of interest to Mullingar residents of Polish origin.

“We’re also delighted to welcome back to Tullynally the brilliant cellist Ailbhe McDonagh, who performed for the DMA in October 2022 with the legendary John O’Conor – with whom in 2021, she released ‘Beethoven: Complete Cello Sonatas’ on the Steinway label.”

Formed in 2013, the Ficino Ensemble have been committed to exploring the vast chamber music repertoire and presenting thoughtfully programmed concerts.

They regularly perform as a string quartet, and the addition of winds and percussion gives the possibility of playing large-scale chamber works.

The group have recorded two albums, Winter and Folk Songs, which are regularly broadcast on WNYC, BBC3, Radio France and RTÉ LyricFm.

The members of Ficino Ensemble are at the forefront of the contemporary music scene and members of the National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Ficino Ensemble take the name from Marsilio Ficino, the Renaissance philosopher who regarded music as a “contemplation of the divine”.

See ficinoensemble.com.

The DMA expressed thanks to the Arts Council for their support for this concert.