Synge Songs at Castalia

Tim Shaffrey, Laura Gilsenan, Callan Coughlan, Andrew Gavin. at Castalia 

A google search of 'Irish plays turned into opera' was the starting point for this year's  programme of Opera at Castalia, Alan O Conchubhair explained to the audience at the concert hall located deep in the heart of rural Kilkenny. More specifically, the theme was Synge in Opera form,  the playwright at the vanguard of the  Gaelic Revival. The experience proved to be a convivial evening of chamber opera and chat as for a third successive year short contemporary and 20th century  work was presented by O Conchubhair and Brendan Mills at the Camphill Campus at Ballytobin. The operas were presented in a semi staged format with the furniture of a cottage dwelling and the obligatory sacred heart picture on the dresser.

Two settings of plays by JM Synge were separated by a short humourous piece by Fiona Linnane.  Both Fiona Linnane and Nancy van de Vate,  were in the house to hear their 'black dots turned into sounds' for an audience that included several luminaries of the Irish new music scene'.  Both ladies spoke a little about the genesis of their pieces.  The cast were predominantly young artists in training in various third level colleges with some star stalwarts. 

Sandra Oman as Katy in Linnane's The Bay of Fundy

The most substantial piece was Mid West Opera's production of Riders to the Sea by Ralph Vaughan Williams. I so  rarely  hear a contralto voice and Sarah Ellen Murphy,  was terrific in conveying overwhelming sorrow and grief as Maurya who loses everything to the cruel sea.  I was impressed with newcomer baritone Sean Boylan and soprano Rebecca Rodgers had a notable dramatic instinct for getting her lines across as Kathleen. Michael Young at piano gave the most sympathetic accompaniment of the evening particularly lovely in the final choral 'keening' element of the play as young Bartley is waked.

Concert Hall and amphitheatre at Castalia, Ballytobin

Composer Nancy van de Vate

The other Synge play, In the Shadow of the Glen was in a style of extended recitative for  a vocal quartet with occasional  spoken lines. Perhaps it was this element that  reinforced my ambivalence about the play working  as an opera libretto. The insubstantial plot  needed more nuance  than the opera format could deliver. The most dramatic dramatic singing came from tenor Andrew Gavin as Daniel Burke.   This is just the second time the opera has been performed and it added much to the occasion  to have the composer in attendence who clearly was delighted with hearing the work for only a second  time after a gap of decades. Originally from New Jersey , Nancy van de Vate is  domiciled and much lauded after a long and successful career, in Vienna. The composer had some some  sensible and succinctly expressed things to say about the chamber opera genre, most memorable of which  her rhetorical question 'you don't need 500 ladies in ball gowns to make an opera, right?' Of course right.

Contralto Sarah Ellen Murphy

In between, Sandra Oman demonstrated yet again what a fine comic performer she is  in an extended  aria in Fiona Linnanes' piece, The Bay of Fundy a sort of Bridget Jones diary style sung monologue.

Composers Eric Sweeney wih Fiona Linnane

My impression was that the intention was to stage the operas outdoors in the super amphitheatre space. However, with the threat of rain, the action was moved indoors to the hall, an unusual high ceilinged octagonal space. The generous intervals allowed plenty of time to chat to the other patrons. We met composer Eric Sweeney who was fully recovered after the exertions of

Sean Boylan Baritone

bringing his new opera to stage. Writer Michael Fewer told me about  his exciting new travel writing project which takes him far from Waterford's, cliff and shore to Portugal. Keith Pascoe of the Van Brugh String Quartet told me about his favourite continental music festival  and Gerry Murphy  just back from guiding  music lovers around the Schumann trail filled me in on his exciting new composition projects. More on these pages in due course. Sean Boylan, legendary football manager and his wife Tina were in the house to support their eldest Sean Óg and also making the trip from Dunboyne, Co.Meath were Rebecca Rodgers' parents all very proud and justly so. Bravo tutti!

House notes. Finding this venue is tricky. Getting lost going or coming was a common topic cropping up in conversation. Signposting is not good. Be aware that there are two Camphill Campuses. You want the Ballytobin one- not the nearby Kyle one. Can I suggest concert organisers post a volunteer at the car park to guide patrons to the right building. The way is not obvious and not clearly marked. We spent ten minutes trying to find the concert hall. 

Gilhooly sparkles at Classical Thursday series in Ennis

Superb singing from Gilhooly @unclehooly at recital in Ennis Next Irish dates @wexfordopera @glorennis @ClassicalArts pic.twitter.com/IyuaPGFFRj
— Fidleir (@fidleir) August 2, 2013

  All would whisper there secretly to the soul in its soft native language, There is all order and beauty, luxury, peace and pleasure  from Invitation Au Voyage Duparc

The heavens opened in Ennis just before Thursday's lunchtime recital at St Columba's but despite the inclement conditions, a sizeable audience had gathered to hear baritone, Owen Gilhooly. Any dampened spirits  were rewarded with a  glorious musical treat. The Limerick based  singer sparkled and shone in a selection of artsong by Brahms, Duparc and Vaughan Williams . Opening with a quartet of Brahms lieder full of light and shade, there was such a range of expression and dynamic in his delivery from the mournful  Die Meinacht to a playful 'Futile Serenade'. (The latter also featured in the opening recital by soprano , Helen Houlihan.) The Duparc songs were new to me. Accompanist, Irina  Dernova created a gorgeous  shimmering soundscape for the seductive lyrics of L'Invitation au Voyage . In contrast the mood of Le Manoir de Rosemonde was  dark and there was a menacing edge of torment in the vocal delivery. Full marks for provision of full text translations.(Bryn Terfel and RTECO please note and copy)

Served up between the song sets were piano miniatures by Chopin and Poulenc played with flair by Irina Dernova.

Owen Gilhooly is a terrific performer. With such great control, faultless diction and  an actor's instinct for poetic imagination, it is  no surprise that he is  much in demand at home and abroad. The next chance to see him in Ennis  is in Opera Theatre Co.'s production of Carmen at Glór. I have posted a review on the production and whatever about it's questionable theatrical merits, it will offer a rare opportunity to hear a large cast of some of the best  singers on the Irish operatic scene here in Ennis and is a must for lovers of good tunes and singers.

The last recital in the series will be on Thursday August 15th when  mezzo soprano Edel O Brien and Helen Houlihan will be the featured performers. Well done Helen Houlihan on initiating the series which brought much musical delight in classical vein to Clare during the summer months.  An opportunity to sponsor the 2014 season is I understand, currently available.

Related articles  Review OTC Carmen 2013 

                                        Classical Thursday Series launched in Ennis 



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Solstice Songs at St Columba's

St Columba's Choral Gathering

                                                                 

Baritone Owen Gilhooly 

Twilight prevailed  all day on the shortest day of the year in Ennis making the candlelit Gothic interior of St Columba's Church seem all the more cheerful decked out in all its Christmas adornments. There was a good house for a concert of seasonal repertoire by soprano, Helen Houlihan and baritone, Owen Gilhooly with the Ennis Cathedral Choir under director, Michael Hennessy accompanied by Irina Dernova. The programme was a classy affair, a blend of sacred and secular, rare gems and familiar favourites.
The opening solo  of the first half was a baritone aria from Christmas Oratorio by JS Bach, very likely a premiere in Clare of this sacred  repertoire. It seems an Avé Maria attributed to Caccini  may be ersatz  Baroque but it is glorious  nonetheless and Helen Houlihan delivered the  slow moving melody with a  beautifully sustained  tone. There was touch of Hollywood in Malotte's setting of the Lord's Prayer with which  she opened the second half. The choir answered an aria from Handel's Messiah with a jaunty rendition of the chorus For Unto Us a Child is Born.  How lovely to hear an Irish carol (Wexford Carol) in the selection, a very effective collaboration between soprano and choir. The mixed voice Cathedral Choir fitted snugly  under the Gothic arch  and sounded confident in the less familiar secular repertoire.

Seasonal Refreshments

Limerick baritone, Owen Gilhooly is currently enjoying international critical acclaim and listening to him tonight , it was easy to see why. He has  fabulous control. Shimmering pianissimos led to  gradual  crescendos with a pure tone throughout. Even with the most familiar repertoire, every nuance of emotion is articulated in heartfelt renditions that make even the most familiar carol sound fresh. You can hear Owen talking about his highlights of  a hectic 2012 and  his forthcoming projects in the audioboo below recorded just after the performance.

The reverberant acoustic was not always kind to the piano in the florid baroque lines more usually heard on strings and harpsichord and one wonders if the organ might have fared better for the this repertoire.  This is the second occasion that I have reported on this line up. In Songs for a Summer Evening I commented that the presentation would have been improved if the vocal introductions had been trimmed.Tonight I felt the opposite and  a sentence or two setting the context of the less familiar repertoire would have enhanced the presentation. The evening was a fund raiser for the Society of St Vincent de Paul and all performers had generously donated their time.
The audience lingered quite a while  for mulled wine cups and minced pies in the vestry for a convivial mull over the lovely evening.of song in Bindon St

Venue Notes: As always the beauty of the many lit candles created a magical ambiance in this beautiful venue which has served several musical evenings  in this month alone. I suggest that  lights in the nave could have come down even more to enhance the effect of candellight.

 Owen Gilhooly  ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Baritone Owen Gilhooly  ’ on Audioboo

Related posts Cool Blackwater Barber

Set List
Somewhere In My Memory Williams Choir
Grosser Herr JS Bach from Christmas Oratorio Owen
Ave Verum Mozart  Helen
But Who May Abide Handel 
Panis Angelicus Franck owen & Helen
Ave Maria Caccini helen 
O Holy Night A Adam Owen & Helen 
The Lord's Prayer Malotte Helen
Ave Maria  Scubert Owen
Wiegenlied Reger Helen
Little Rd to Bethlehem  Holst Owen
Once in Royal David's City  Andrea Sheahan and Choir
For Unto Us a Child is Born  Handel Choir 
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Choir
A|deste Fidelis Owen and Choir
Wexford CarolHelen and Choir
Hark the Herald Angels Sing Choir
Silent NightChoir
The Holy City Owen Helen and Choir