Thanks to the chamber music Festival’s long-standing relationship with RTÉ lyric fm, the Festival has over the years built up a substantial archive of professionally recorded live concerts. It is part of the Cinderella nature of archives that they are not always given the attention they deserve until their importance is suddenly revealed. In our case the Archive’s search facility leaves something to be desired so our web designer is working to improve it. Currently a certain degree of patient probing is needed to find the work you seek. This will improve shortly.

Recently we added the recordings from the 2019 Festival and each week we are selecting a feature work or works. Our lives are all the poorer without access to live music, but we can offer a delicious recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s G major Gamba Sonata played by Laura van der Heijden and Finghin Collins. This heart-lifting work should of course be played on a viola da gamba and harpsichord, but for most of us it works perfectly on modern instruments.

Find out more, and listen to the recording, here.

In the same Crespo Series concert Laura and Finghin continued with Beethoven’s early G minor Cello Sonata, another cheerful work that dances its way through a series of irresistible themes played with flair and evident enjoyment. The Sonata opens operatically with a dramatic recitative and aria that allows the cello to sing out before the onward rush of the second movement takes over.

Find out more, and listen to the recording, here.

You’ll find all our Music Archive releases here – keep coming back to see the new additions!