View from the Green Room: Harping on
French harpist Emmanuel Ceysson and Irish soprano Sarah Shine at the Edmond Rice Chapel.
Waterford-Music decamped to the beautiful Edmund Rice Chapel at Mount Sion for their final concert of the season. The Rice Chapel is acoustically perfect and the intimacy of the venue added a special warmth to the concert.
Emmanuel Ceysson is a French harpist and academic and is currently principal harpist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Formerly, he was principal harpist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris. He is currently Professor of Harp at the Mannes School of Music and was previously Professor of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He’s also picked up many awards along the way.
In 2004 he won the Gold Medal and a special performance prize at the USA International Harp Competition. In 2006 he earned first prize and six special prizes at the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York City, and in 2009 he received first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
It’s not often we get to hear a world-famous harpist perform and France’s Emmanuel Ceysson delights the small audience with a performance of astonishing quality and entertainment. Emmanuel has the gift of communication and his introductions to his pieces fascinate.
He sees performance as transitive: "Music comes first! No matter what you play, your instrument should always just be a tool, a means to reach a higher state of expression and emotion..."
The intensity of his work and his concentration on the task in hand bring us all on a journey to a different space. Emmanuel’s playing fills the chapel with a deep, resonant sound and the opening André Caplet Divertissements (entertainments) – A La Francaise and A l’Espagnole – do exactly what it says on the tin - entertain.
Emmanuel is also joined by Irish soprano Sarah Shine, who studied with Veronica Dunne at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She was a young artist of the Academy at the Paris National Opera for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
In November 2017, she made her debut at the Opera Bastille and, after a performance at Palais Garnier in July 2018, Sarah Shine was awarded the Siemens Opera Contest France. She has performed in concert with the Philharmonic Radio Orchestra of Bucharest for the Beirut Chants Festival 2017. She also performed with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and Ulster Orchestra (Ireland) on numerous occasions and made her debut with The Hibernian Orchestra Ireland as soloist for Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.
Louis Vierne’s song cycle of Quatre Poemes Grecs (Four Greek Poems) was composed for harp and soprano and conjures up an antique feeling of a lyrical world where love and beauty are an everywhere experience. Sarah’s soprano and superb diction are a delight and her ability to tell stories delight. Sarah also shares the stage with Emmanuel for three songs from Debussy – Beau Soir (beautiful evening), Nuit d’Étoiles (starry night) and Le Lilas (the lilac) – that are full of colour and contrast.
A splendid evening from Waterford-Music at the Edmond Rice Chapel to see out this year’s programme.
Check out the Waterford-Music Facebook page for details of next year’s programme. It’s the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who loves serious music. There’s an early Season Tickets 25% reduction offer of a Five for €75 season ticket. Well worth the ticket.
