John Ruddock: ‘The impresario you seldom find’

It would have been hard to come across John Ruddock and not realise he was special. By the time of his death in May 2013, his track record was well known. The Limerick Music Association, which he founded in 1967, had promoted more than 800 concerts between then and 2004, and although the original base was Limerick, Ruddock had expanded to Dublin, organised tours and even made the occasional promotional foray abroad.

His first concerts give an idea of what he was doing. After opening with the Berlin Philharmonic Octet, he followed up with the Southwest German Radio Wind Quintet, the New York Brass Quintet, a recital by Dutch soprano Elisabeth Simon, the New London Chamber Ensemble and English pianist John Lill.

In the 1970, Ruddock, who was also a talent-spotter, brought a trio of young Hungarian pianists, András Schiff, Zoltán Kocsis and Dezsö Ránki, to Ireland long before they were heralded internationally. He had another long affair, musically speaking, with the Takács String Quartet, also from Hungary, who were to give more concerts for him than any other group.

Peter Riegelbauer, double bassist with the Scharoun Ensemble that’s made up of members of the Berlin Philharmonic, has “the best memories you could have. We in the Scharoun Ensemble have known him for many years. When we met him, we were thrilled by his personality. He was such a warm person, and he was working just for the music.”

Most of the Scharoun players had never been to Ireland before. “We loved the country, the people, the audiences and especially John. He was an impresario of the kind you seldom find in the world, a school-teacher [headmaster of Villiers Secondary School in Limerick] who worked together with his wife Doreen to bring international musicians to Ireland. He did it without any interest in money or profit or personal gain of that type.”

An international pioneer

Tim Vogler, leader of the Vogler Quartet, first met Ruddock at master-classes given by Sándor Végh at Prussia Cove in Cornwall in 1988. The Voglers were East Germans, who were subject to the restrictions of movement between East and West Germany of the time. “Actually, John was the first man from any western country to invite us to give a regular, commercial concert abroad. Which was amazing for us.”

Vogler still remembers it as “a big thing” to have played in a capital city in the West. The Irish relationship set up by Ruddock grew further when the Voglers became Sligo’s first ensemble-in-residence; the May bank holiday weekend festival that was later set up is still running. “He followed his heart to the musicians he liked and the music he liked. And there are very few promoters like that.”

Ruddock may have concentrated on artists from abroad, but he also promoted some of his favourite Irish musicians. Gerard Shanahan, Mary Gallagher, Veronica McSwiney, Bernadette Greevy, Jeannie Reddin, Audrey Chisholm, Gillian Smith, Eric Hinds, and Havelock Nelson all graced his platforms within his first couple of years.

Pianist Finghin Collins remembers that Ruddock “gave me great opportunities at a fairly young age. The first time I played in the NCH for him was for a concert like tonight’s, a mix of things, and the Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski had pulled out. So I replaced him in Beethoven’s Op 111. I was about 18 or 19.”

Further engagements followed, including solo recitals in Limerick, “and I got to know the Voglers, and through them and John made further connections abroad. He would often travel to hear me abroad in places that I was playing in through his connections. He also introduced me to Gábor Takács-Nagy and his wife Lesley, who he was very, very close to – in fact he was instrumental in introducing them to each other back in the late 1980s.”

When Ruddock heard that Collins was auditioning for the Geneva Conservatory of Music in 1999, he told him he must stay with the couple and rang them up to make sure it happened.

“I studied at the conservatoire there for three years, travelling over and back every three weeks, and stayed every time with Lesley and Gábor. They were extremely good to me. They were extremely fond of John, and Lesley felt like a daughter to John.”

English clarinettist Michael Collins (no relation), who Ruddock brought to Ireland when he was still in his teens, remembers “a real networker” and says Ruddock and Doreen became like second parents to him.

In Geneva, Finghin Collins and Gábor Takács-Nagy used to talk a lot. “He was teaching string quartets. We often used to talk about string quartets, and he would regale me with stories of John and the LMA from the 1970s and 1980s. Gábor had enormous affection for John. The last time I saw John was at a dinner with Lesley and Gábor, one of the times Gábor was conducting the Irish Chamber Orchestra.”

Colllins also remembers Ruddock for his “boyish sense of humour, how he loved telling jokes. He had such incredible enthusiasm. He never stopped making plans for his next trip or his next concert. He went through a lot of hardship, losing his son and his wife. He was a terribly emotional person. He wore his feelings on his sleeves. Highly opinionated, but also sensitive. A generous spirit.”

Ruddock was also unstoppable. “He had booked the hall for tonight, which was about three days before his 90th birthday.”

John Ruddock: A Celebration is on at the National Concert Hall tonight and features pianist Finghin Collins, clarinettist Michael Collins, the Scharoun Ensemble and the Vogler Quartet. nch.ie