News

The Goethe Choir is excited to announce a semi-staged performance of Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas—one of the most significant works in the Baroque opera repertoire —at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght on Tuesday 20 May at 7.30pm. Adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid it tells the tragic love story of Dido, the Queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, a Trojan hero.

The cast is led by Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty—with her ‘velvety expressive voice’ (The Journal of Music) and the ‘richly varied’ and ‘powerful’ (Bachtrack) Irish baritone Benjamin Russell in the two title roles, supported by rising young soprano Hannah Gries and popular Irish soprano Katy Kelly. The performance also features dancer, actor and theatre-maker Stephanie Dufresne, internationally acclaimed classical guitarist Perry Schack and the Lumiere Quartet—led by Irish Baroque Orchestra leader Claire Duff. All will be under the baton of the choir’s musical director John Dexter.

Henry Purcell (1659–1695)—‘the English Orpheus’—was organist of Westminster Abbey and the royal composer to three English kings: Charles II, James II and William III. Though most prolific as a songwriter—composing more than 100 secular songs and about 40 duets—he also developed an interest in writing music for the theatre.

Based on a libretto by the Irish-born playright and adapter Nahum Tate, the work focuses on the ill-fated love affair between Aeneas, once a Prince, now leader of a refugee fleet of survivors from the fall of Troy and Dido, founding ruler (and future goddess) of the city of Carthage. The opera is structured in a prologue and three acts.

Tickets costing €35 (plus €2 booking fee) may be booked online at https://www.civictheatre.ie/whats-on/goethe-choir/

The Goethe Choir’s next concert will be a performance of John Stainer’s popular oratorio ‘Crucifixion’. This will take place at 3pm on Saturday 22nd March in St. Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, Dublin 2. The choir will be conducted by John Dexter and will be joined by soloists Conor Prendiville (Tenor) and Gyula Nagy (Bass), ably supported by Charles Marshall (Organ).

Written and first performed in 1887, the oratorio tells the story of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and contains some much-loved sections, including the hymn ‘All for Jesus’ and the unaccompanied anthem ‘God so loved the world’. This is a rare opportunity to hear a performance of a popular work not often given in Dublin.

Tickets costing €20 (plus booking fee) can be purchased online via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/goethe-choir-presents-the-crucifixion-by-john-stainer-tickets-1209945392239.

After some personal practice at home and a group rehearsal the evening before our trip, we flew to Hamburg early on November 21st and travelled onward to Lüneburg by train. This allowed us to join the 90-member choir in their final rehearsals on the evenings of the 21st and 22nd, culminating in the concert on Saturday, the 23rd. The event was held in a large, converted barn on a country estate just outside Lüneburg, now transformed into a modern concert hall. With orchestral accompaniment, the performance was met with enthusiasm by a capacity audience, Jenkins’ work being popular and featuring many memorable musical moments.

We received a wonderfully warm and welcoming reception from the Lüneburg choir members and in particular from the host families with whom we stayed, which made the trip a very memorable and rewarding experience for all. And we had a chance to share our apprecation and enjoyment with our choral companions after the concert, complete in some cases with Karl Jenkins moustaches, as you can see here.

Our first performance since our summer break will take place at 8pm on Saturday 5th October in Trinity College Chapel, Dublin. We are delighted to be joined for this concert by the Stadtkantorei choir from Stade, Germany (where a section of the choir stayed during our visit to northern Germany in 2022) and by the Royal Irish Academy of Music Brass Quintet.

This promises to be an enjoyable celebration of togetherness in music and features works by a range of composers, including JS Bach, Bruckner, Haydn, Stanford and others. Admission to the concert is free but donations on the night are welcome.

The choir held its summer concert last Sunday afternoon June 9th in the Church of St. Thérèse, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin.  We were privileged to perform with the internationally acclaimed Irish pianist John O’Conor, who delighted an enthusiastic and highly appreciative audience in a series of works by Beethoven.  This included a solo performance by him of the Pathetique Sonata as well as the piano accompaniment (along with solo violin and cello) of the wonderful soprano soloist Emma Nash and the choir sopranos and altos in a number of Beethoven’s arrangements of Irish melodies.

The concert culminated in a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy for piano, orchestra and chorus, a work which opens with an extended passage of brilliant music for solo piano before continuing with orchestral accompaniment and finally being joined by the choir for a rousing and ecstatic conclusion, which received a standing ovation from the enraptured audience.   We were particularly delighted to be able to give a repeat performance of a work that John O’Conor had previously played with the choir in 1976.

Go to our Gallery webpage to see some photos of the occasion.