Madam, - May I be permitted to add a coda to the correspondence on the Wexford Festival? In the great days of Elaine Padmore I was privileged to be given the opportunity of presenting morning and afternoon recitals by many of the great young artists of the day. Recitals were regularly given during the Festival by musicians of the calibre of Michael Collins, the Panocha and Vogler Quartets, the Grieg and Moscow Piano Trios, pianists Norika Ogawa and Piotr Anderszewski - to name but a few.
During rainy days at Wexford (and there were many!) opera lovers could sample the delights of chamber music while waiting for their evening opera menu. The festival's greatest blunder, in my opinion, was its virtual abandonment of chamber music.
Hopefully, a new director will restore this art form to its rightful place in the festival calendar. - Yours, etc.,
J.A.RUDDOCK, Honorary Secretary, Limerick Music Association, Ulverton Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin.