Launch of 'WA Remembers Easter' 1916 at Perth Chamber Orchestra's Irish Night
The people of Perth were treated to a spectacular night of music at the GPO, Perth, last night, Wednesday 23rd March, for the Perth Chamber Orchestra's "An Irish Night".
Photo: Courtesy Perth Chamber Orchestra
As part of their Heritage Series, the Perth Chamber Orchestra produced a well-crafted program, melding traditional Irish pieces with classical. It was an inspiring night for the full house attendees, with performances by Fiona Rea, Fiona Cooper-Smyth, Bryan Rice Dalton and the Doherty Family, adding to the wonderful Perth Chamber Orchestra.
As the general audience were seated and the VIPs began to file in from their pre-show reception there were sudden noises in the GPO auditorium. Sounds of gunshots. We turned and in the quietening hum of audience chatter we saw the source – three Irish dancers down the centre aisle rising with sporadic hardshoe steps on the hard parquet floor. Mixed with the murmur of the incoming VIPs it had a haunting echo of the beginning of the Easter Rising in the GPO Dublin on 24 April 1916.
Then silence. A flute, a female voice – a woman in white emerged with a candle choralling ‘She Moved Through the Fair’ and slowly she too disappeared. Beautiful theatre. The story of the 1916 rising followed projected on the wall that was informative, succinct and moving but for the cannelated stonework across the middle of the screen. The 15 piece chamber orchestra directed by Irish born Jessica Gethin played the soothing elgiac sounds of Mahler’s symphony No 5 and the scene was set.
A reprieve in the insurrection saw Irish stew served to us in our seats. This was a second course after the colcannon cake and wine on arrival and was to be followed by desert of triple fudge Irish cream brownies in the second interval.
The program featured music, song, verse and text with a line up of ten guest performers and a troupe of Irish dancers. The vault-like hall of the GPO did not favour the spoken word but the experience shared by the audience was splendid. Slides of Ireland back-lit some of the music which ranged from classical European, Irish and Celtic to traditional Irish. Highlights were ‘The Foggy Dew’ sung by Bryan Rice Dalton suitably attired in cap and waistcoat, and a most evocative arrangement of ‘The Children of 1916’ sung by Fiona Rea that I really look forward to hearing again.
From the ashes of the rebellion the Irish fiddle, bodhran, banjo and mandolin stirred the new nation to a resurrection of the old Irish traditions now free to give creative expression and brought the building to life with the full complement of the chamber strings.
Congratulations to producer Bourby Webster who devised a most imaginative entertainment mix that did great honour to the memory of Easter 1916.
It was also the launch of The WA Remembers Easter 1916 series of events, with the premiere of our event calendar video and poster (below). Thank you to our sponsors, My Legal HQ.
