May at Triskel Arts Centre

 

Dear Cork Cultural Companions Welcome to the Triskel May Newsletter. We have quite a varied line-up at Triskel this month, with a great mix of Irish, international and independent cinema and folk, jazz and classical music. Michael McHale is here with three concerts in his four-concert piano recital series. Kit Downes is back in Cork. He plays to sold-out shows during Guinness Cork Jazz Festival so this is a great chance to catch him in a different season. Music Network are bringing a very exciting trio with Liz Knowles, Niwel Tsumbu and Niall Vallely joining forces. And make sure to scroll all the way to the end of the newsletter for details of the line-up for Holy Show’s Party Piece, which is here as part of the Bealtaine Festival. In cinema, we are bringing back Suzume, which was here as part of the Japanese Film Festival last month and sold out. We’re also showing Ann, about Irish teenager Ann Lovett who died after giving birth in a grotto in 1984; three films from one of British cinema’s most striking and unique talents Peter Greenaway; and an evening of short films created by a group of six filmmakers from the University College Cork MA in Film & Screen Media programme who have worked with UCC/Arts Council Film Artist in Residence Maximilian Le Cain. Hope to see you soon,   Gillian and the team at Triskel

LIVE MUSIC Liz Knowles, Niwel Tsumbu & Niall Vallely  Fri 5 May | 8:00pm | €20/€18 In May, Music Network presents an exciting new collaborative project featuring Kentucky fiddle and hardanger fiddle player Liz Knowles, Congolese guitarist and vocalist Niwel Tsumbu and Irish concertina player Niall Vallely. Combining their extensive and varied musical influences, they’ve found common ground and will push the creative boundaries in a unique cross-cultural, cross-genre collaboration. Expect striking melodies, beautiful harmonies, deep rhythmic grooves and all-round joie de vivre in a concert that’s sure to be a balm for the soul as this remarkable trio of musicians take to the stage. “Niall Vallely’s technical mastery and genius for improvisation are matched by apparently inexhaustible creative reserves” – The Irish Times Book tickets Jimmy Crowley, Eve Telford & Friends A Night of Song and Story  Sat 6 May | 8:00pm | €25/€20 Fundraising Concert in aid of the Mental Health Charity Grow Ireland Jimmy and his partner Eve Telford will sing a varied selection from their wide-ranging collection of songs and will be joined by some of their musical friends as well as well-known storyteller Maria Gillen who will share many varied stories from her collection. Jimmy Crowley, Eve Telford and Maria Gillen have kindly agreed to do this Fundraising Concert for Grow.   Book tickets Michael McHale: Romeo and Juliet The Romantic Piano - Recital Series   Fri 12 May | 1:00pm | €16/€13 PROGRAMME Music by Beethoven, Field, Schubert and Prokofiev This programme culminates in music describing one of the truly great love stories, that of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, as depicted by Prokofiev’s colourful and evocative score. Before that we hear one of the first great Romantic piano sonatas, Beethoven’s Pathetique, alongside favourites by some of the nineteenth century’s finest pianist-composers – Schubert, Chopin and Ireland’s John Field. Ludwig van Beethoven:  Sonata in C minor op.13 “Pathetique” i. Grave – Allegro molto e con brio  ii. Adagio cantabile iii. Rondo Allegro John Field:  Nocturnes No.10 in E minor and No.5 in B flat major Fryderyk Chopin:  Nocturne in E flat major op.9 no.2 Franz Schubert:  Impromptus op.90 i. No.3 in G flat  ii. No.2 in E flat Sergei Prokofiev:  Ten Pieces from Romeo & Juliet op.75 (excerpts) iv. The Young Juliet vi. The Montagues and the Capulets vii. Father Lorenzo viii. Mercutio Book tickets Michael McHale: Love Songs The Romantic Piano - Recital Series Fri 19 May | 1:00pm | €16/€13 PROGRAMME   Music by Schubert, Sholdice, Schumann and Liszt Liszt’s Second Ballade charts the tale of Hero and Leander, one of the great love stories from Greek mythology. We also hear love song arrangements by one of the great Romantic lieder composers, Franz Schubert, the husband and wife team of Robert and Clara Schumann and the Paris-born Augusta Holmès, whose father hailed from Youghal in County Cork, as well as some beautiful and entrancing music by 21st century composers Garrett Sholdice, Philip Hammond and Missy Mazzoli. Franz Schubert: Impromptu in A flat op.90 no.4 Franz Schubert (arr. Sholdice): Des Dischers Liebesglück (first performance) Garrett Sholdice: Und weinen, und lächen (first performance) Three love songs arranged for solo piano: Augusta Holmès (arr. McHale): Evocation d’Amour Clara Schumann (arr. McHale): Sie Liebten Sich Beide op.13 no.2 Robert Schumann (arr. Liszt): Liebeslied S.566 “Widmung” Philip Hammond: …this hour of quiet… Missy Mazzoli: Heartbreaker Franz Liszt: Ballade No.2 S.171 Book tickets Enemy: Kit Downes, Petter Eldh and James Maddren Fri 19 May | 8:00pm | €25/€22 Kit Downes joins forces with long-time collaborators Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums for a carefully assorted piano trio programme that treads gentle lyricism and bold creative outbursts in equal measures. Downes, whose prior ECM offering Dreamlife of Debris was termed a “work of otherworldly beauty” by BBC Music Magazine, carves out some of his most compendious pieces to date on Vermillion. Replete with subtle twists and turns, the trio offers its idiosyncratic take on the piano trio format, producing unexpected harmonic alterations and animate rhythmic flashes as they flesh out distinct musical forms. Recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, the three-piece outlines a unique design for this instrumentation in clear-cut interplay and creates a profound study of Kit Downes’ broad musical imagination in the process. Book tickets Duke Special's Songbook  Sat 20 May | 8:00pm | €22.50/€20 21 years ago Duke Special released his first EP, Lucky Me. In 2023, following a further 15 records, Duke Special will be playing shows across Ireland, showcasing songs from across his remarkable career. He will be joined by long term collaborator and brother in arms, the tintinnabulator, Temperance Society Chip Bailey. Not to be missed! Book tickets Michael McHale: Moonlight The Romantic Piano - Recital Series Sat 27 May | 1:00pm | €16/€13 PROGRAMME Beethoven’s Moonlight and Appassionata Sonatas with preludes by Linda Buckley and Áine Mallon This recital features music from Moonlight, Michael McHale’s most recent solo album. The record brings together two of Beethoven’s most beloved and influential piano sonatas – the “Moonlight” and the “Appassionata”, towering pinnacles of the romantic piano repertoire – and frames them with two new preludes by Irish composers Linda Buckley and Áine Mallon. “Solas na Gealaí” by Cork composer Linda Buckley is an introspective immersion in a world of nocturnal beauty, whilst “Raindrop Prelude” by Armagh-born Áine Mallon moves in gently undulating cycles. Linda Buckley: Solas na Géalai Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata no.14 in C# minor op.27 no.2 “Moonlight” Áine Mallon: Raindrop Prelude Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No.23 in F minor op.57 “Appassionata” Book tickets CINEMA Sun 30 Apr - Wed 3 May - Raging Bull • Ann Sun 7 - Wed 10 May - Suzume • One Fine Morning Thu 11 May - Cinespectres • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Sun 14 - Tue 16 May - Godland • The Draughtsman's • A Zed and Two Noughts • The Belly of an Architect Wed 17 May - Blue Jean + Jungle Sun 21 - Wed 24 May - Rodeo • Pray for our Sinners Sun 28 - Wed 31 May - Brainwashed: Sex - Camera - Power  • Return to Seoul Book tickets Blue Jean + Jungle  LGBTI+ Awareness Week

Book tickets Peter Greenaway Season   The Draughtsman's Contract - Sun 14 May | 4.30pm       A Zed and Two Noughts - Mon 15 May | 8.15pm     The Belly of an Architect - Tue 16 May | 8.15pm     Book tickets FESTIVALS Holy Show's Party Piece Bealtaine Festival