The festival opens with Transfigurations, a programme exploring transformation and reinvention. Donnacha Dennehy’s Bulb (commissioned by the Fidelio Trio with funds provided by the Arts Council of Ireland) brings a distinctly contemporary Irish voice to the programme.

The shifting textures and energy of Dennehy’s work is set against Ravel’s exquisite Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose Suite), heard in an arrangement for piano trio. The trio then present a new work titled To the Edge by Northern Irish composer Frank Lyons, before the evening culminates in Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night).

Composed in 1899, Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht was misunderstood and rejected at its premiere in 1902. It has since become his most popular work and is now widely performed. Inspired by a poem by Richard Dehmel, the work is written as one large-scale movement, with contrasting sections closely interwoven and the mood of the poem reflected throughout.

The Fidelio Trio perform Eduard Steuermann’s arrangement for piano trio, made in 1932 for a private performance. Born in 1892 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now part of Ukraine, Steuermann was a close associate of Schoenberg, having studied composition with him and performed the piano part in the first performance of Pierrot Lunaire. His arrangement of Verklärte Nacht is notable for its transparency and clarity, bringing out the detail of the music while retaining its expressive eloquence and colour

With Darragh Morgan, Tim Gill and Mary Dullea, the Fidelio Trio bring together works separated by more than a century, revealing unexpected connections between the music of Ravel, Dennehy, Lyons and Schoenberg.

Donnacha Dennehy, Bulb

Maurice Ravel, Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose Suite) arr Benjamin Martin

Frank Lyons, To the Edge

Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht arr Steuermann 

Fidelio Trio

Darragh Morgan, Violin

Tim Gill, Cello 

Mary Dullea, Piano

Tickets €25/€20 (conc.) available here.