View from the Green Room: Trio round off superb Organ Festival
Far Flung Trio.
It’s been a while since the Far Flung Trio – Katherine Hunka on violin, Dermot Dunne on accordion and Malachy Robinson on double-bass – has gigged in Waterford. Six years by my notes and it’s great to have them back for the conclusion of the Waterford Organ Festival.
Fun and banter with each other and the audience sets the tone for an informal afternoon concert that delights from start to finish.
“It’s pretty remarkable that the most famous Hungarian dance music comes from the pen of an Italian,” comments Malachy. Vittorio Monti clearly loved the legend of the Hungarian czardas – a death dance, when the soldier fought with his opponent, watched and stalked him before dispatching him and then danced it all out in a frenzy.
Catherine Hunka’s versatility is a delight here with images of leppin’ Cossacks and deadly Turkans fighting to the death.
The haunting accordion love theme from the Godfather wafts around the old cathedral, while ominous warnings of murder and revenge resonate underneath to warn that love rarely, if ever, conquers all.
It’s not so far a journey from Nino Rota’s Godfather to Carmen’s Haberena when you think about it. The siren’s warning on her invitation to love:
“Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime, Et si je t'aime, prends garde à toi” (If you do not love me, I love you, And if I love you, take care of yourself) rings out ominously as Carmen’s sensuality hangs in the ether of the cathedral.
Gershwin chips in with three songs. Hunka’s playing in ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ is smooth and silky; Robinson’s bass in ‘Lady Be Good’ is funky and friendly, while Dunne’s ass-kickin’ box in ‘We’ve Got Rhythm’ reminds me of the late great Bryan Flynn’s Waterford Crystal finale in 1994.
Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’ overture has us foot-tapping along to catchy phrases that repeat throughout. Romance anchors the piece but there’s plenty of contrast from rhythms that explode across the score, with high leaps and solo cadenzas from the fiddle and base playing that pumps along with energy and attack.
The volume and rhythm rises and falls and then just pounds along to that frenzied finale. Nobody writes overtures like Rossini.
"Give me a washing bill," says he, "and I’ll set it to music!"
Resident organist Simon Harden gigs with the Trio in a locked-down classical delight with Haydn’s Concerto for Organ in F.
Catherine Hunka’s passionate violin in Michel Legrand’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg is just beyond romantic.
“If it takes forever, I will wait for you, For a thousand summers, I will wait for you”.
Dermot Dunne’s ethnic box playing in Les Chemins d’Amour (The ways of love) is about as smoochy a love waltz as you could ask for and a Piaf medley with lilting accordion, jazzy fiddle and bluesy base finds me in sawdust cafes with oyster shell ashtrays and ladies in red gloves with cigarette holders the length of ladders.
Far Flung Trio gave us a superb eclectic Sunday afternoon concert that rounds off the Waterford International Organ Festival for 2025.
Congratulations to Christ Church organist Simon Harden and his hard-working committee on organising a marvellous weekend of organ music and events at Christ Church Cathedral.
