Double Violin Concerto - Bach
Trumpet Concerto - Hummel
Temerari . . . Come scoglio - Mozart
Vissi d'arte - Puccini
E strano . . . a fors' e lui - Verdi
Bandoneon Concerto - Piazzolla
Triple Piano Concerto - Mozart
Monday night's concert in the RTE Millennium Musician of the Future Festival went well. The programming was intelligent, the RTE Concert Orchestra and conductor Proinnsias O Duinn were on strong form, and the eight soloists, all past prize-winners at Musician of the Future competitions, did themselves justice.
Concertos for multiple soloists can thrive if the players are at once unanimous yet distinctive. In that respect, parts of Bach's Double Violin Concerto, with Michael d'Arcy (overall winner in 1987) and Aisling O'Dea (string section 1994), were a treat. In Mozart's Triple Piano Concerto K242, Hugh Tinney (overall winner of the first competition, 1976), Dearbhla Collins (piano section 1987) and Finghin Collins (overall 1994) struck that essential balance very effectively, especially in the finale.
Accordionist Dermot Dunne (overall winner 1996) played Piazzolla's Bandoneon Concerto with an extraordinary and persuasive mix of suavity and derring-do. In Hummel's Trumpet Concerto, Mark O'Keeffe (overall 1992) had just the right amount of panache for a piece which revels in the prospects opened by the then-new valve trumpet.
Somehow, the possibilities of the competition were summarised by the gutsy contribution of soprano Cara O'Sullivan (overall 1990). In many places during the excellently chosen arias by Mozart (Cosi fan tutte) Puccini (Tosca) and Verdi (La Traviata), she pressed dramatic expression towards its limits. Yet she did so with the best sort of star qualities - presence, ability where it counts, and mature judgement.
