The Next One


With one night to go, and much to do before myself and the boyfriend head off on holidays he asked to come out to Athenaeum House Hotel to hear a pianist play. I might have sighed and muttered something about not being a big fan of music played on a piano and if I did then I would like to take this opportunity to take it back. The pianist in question was an extremely talented man named Kieran Quinn who is currently embarking on a rather unusual tour which sees him touring all 32 counties over nine weeks playing a different piano and venue for each gig. At the moment he is mid way through the tour. The next gig is actually in Castalia which is the Camphill community in Ballytobin, Co Kilkenny in their rather beautiful concert hall.

 Anyway off we went, my boyfriend the music enthusiast and me, the sceptical one. This was the first time I set foot in Athenaeum House Hotel, which is just outside of Waterford city but as you drive up its winding drive way you feel as though you have been transported to somewhere else entirely. I'm pretty sure it can go up on my list of hotels currently outside my price range but I am okay with that seeing as I am highly unlikely to find myself staying in a hotel that's less than 10 minutes away from my apartment. As you walk in the doors you can see the piano lounge, just beyond the reception area. Feeling very grown up altogether we made ourselves comfortable with a pot of peppermint tea and waited for the performance to begin.

 I will admit I didn't know much about Kieran before this gig. Naturally I have since been on Facebook and seen that he is quite highly regarded and that his tour so far has been very well recieved and in retrospect this made me more appreciative of the unique performance we witnessed. He sat down to play in a well fitting suit which I thought made for a good start. If you are going to perform in a Georgian House then you may as well look dapper.
I was drawn in immediately once he began to play, the music was surprisingly evocative and I found at times I was getting lost in it. In the first song I was certain I heard the melody from Bare Necessities (The Jungle Book) embedded in the song and I was almost nervous asking if I was correct in case it wasn't and I exposed myself as a philistine. Seeing as I am still working on filtering what I am thinking and what I actually say out loud I blurted out the question and it seems I was right. I don't think I realised before that piano music can be playful as well as sombre. I have probably given away the extent to which I listen to that sort of thing. I think somewhere it has been embedded in me that the piano is a purely classical instrument and not being much of a fan of that sort of thing I didn't explore this much further. Tonight I realised that it has the potential to be far more versatile an instrument than I could have imagined.
The music managed to be moving but at times whimsical. It did help that the Piano Lounge in Athenaeum House Hotel has high ceilings and great acoustics so the music seemed to swell to fill the space. I was very impressed by the speed at which he played and the way at times it sounded like more than one instrument being played. 

 I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and I left wanting to hear more. It should hardly be surprising to me at this stage that the nights in which I am most reluctant to be out are the ones I end up enjoying the most 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The darker side of romance

Image
  For some reason I felt compelled to write about a corner of my past that hasn't been part of my blog before. a heads up to anyone who might be upset by this topic I will be delving into emotional abuse so feel free to stop reading now if you don't feel able to carry on. When I was in my late 20's I met a guy on a night out. He was a few years younger than me and honestly looking back threw up a couple of red flags early but I didn't trust my own intuition plus I was only a few months away from finishing college and planned to move to Edinburgh in a few months so it wasn't like it was going to be anything more than a brief fling. However as time went on I became more infatuated with him, there was an intensity there and he seemed sweet but damaged. Like a perfect modern fairytale I thought I would be the one to fix him. somehow plans changed and he was going to follow me over to Edinburgh, get a job there and we were going to live happily ever after. at this point
Read more

Help, I think I'm autistic

Image
 So I, at the age of 41, have come to the realization that I am autistic.  Growing up I always had a feeling something about me was a little bit off. I never quite fit in and I wasn't sure why. It was like everyone had been given a book of rules of how to exist in society but no one had thought to hand me a copy. Looking back with hindsight the signs were there. I was a super sensitive kid, a sensitivity I have not lost in adulthood, I cried very easily and felt every emotion very deeply. I was a picky eater and very particular about the textures of different food. I was very sensitive to light and noise and the feel of different fabrics. I was never a hugger. all of these things are as true about me now as they were when I was younger. I am socially awkward, I don't make friends that easily and will joke I am an acquired taste. Eye contact is something I have to actively work on and small talk feels like torture.  I thrive on alone time, I am incredibly sensitive to the moods
Read more

Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out ..

Image
I have been told on more than one occasion that I'm sarcastic. Often that I'm too sarcastic (as though there could be such a thing) and I have retort up my sleeve for such occasions which is if you think I'm sarcastic you should meet my mother. No, really you should because my sarcasm is but a pale imitation of hers. Every so often though I come out without something that makes my friends or other family members pause because sometimes when I open my mouth, my mother comes out.  It's funny how people always take the words you are turning into your mother as such an insult because the reality of the matter is it's a both a good and bad thing. Obviously there are certain qualities I am perfectly happy to emulate and others not so much and on the whole I am not entirely sure how much control I have over it. It's not quite a pick and mix counter here. I think there are some habits you are not even aware you have picked up until someone else kindly points it out.
Read more