A QUOTE from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream - “The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact” - inspires the programming of the Music for Galway concert in NUIG’s Aula Maxima next Tuesday at 8pm.
The early-music duo of Argentine soprano Valeria Mignaco and Spanish lute player Alfonso Marín are joined by Adrian Mantu, cellist with the ConTempo Quartet for an evening of songs from the Spanish, French, and English courts of c1600.
Valeria Mignaco and Alfonso Marín first met in Holland, where they had come from Argentina and Tenerife respectively to pursue advanced studies. They began their specialisation in the lute song repertory during their studies at the conservatories of The Hague and Amsterdam.
They describe this collaboration as one of their most rewarding and fruitful – indeed, since 2004, Valeria’s fresh voice and Alfonso’s seemingly effortless playing have conquered audiences throughout Europe. The duo have recently recorded a CD of English lute songs by John Dowland and his contemporaries, which will be released in December.
Speaking ahead of their Galway visit, the duo began by describing why they were first drawn to early lute music.
“I first started listening to this music as a teenager and thought it was amazing,” says soprano Mignaco. Lutist Alfonso Marín adds: “The repertoire of 17th century music for lute and voice is very important yet not many people are doing it so that was another attraction for us to explore the canon.”
Marín expands on the characteristics of the music: “Much of the music from this period was cultivated in court circles and among the well-to-do, educated people who could afford to have music lessons to own instruments.
“The music of someone like John Dowland for instance is quite complex and sophisticated though, in comparison, Thomas Campion’s songs are much more simple in character. Half of the set we’ll be doing will comprise lute music from France and Spain and whereas the French songs are ornate and courtly, the Spanish ones tend to be more folky.”
The duo’s set of English songs for the concert includes ‘A Lover and his Lass’ from Shakespeare’s As You Like It and a number of selections from John Dowland. “Dowland was like Schubert and Schumann rolled into one,” enthuses Valeria. “There’s no-one else who can compare with him from this era for the quality of his lute songs.”
“He was the best composer of lute songs in history,” Alfonso adds. “One of the things that’s interesting about his compositions is that the lute is just as important as the voice, it’s not there as a mere accompaniment.”
While the duo have performed widely across Europe, this will be their first appearance in Ireland (though Alfonso reveals that when he was younger he spent some time in Sligo learning English! ).
Tickets are €20/16/6 from Opus II, St Augustine Street, or from the Music for Galway on 091 - 705962.
