It is said that of all the performers of national and international standing that performed in Glór, the only one that a local enclosed order of nuns invited to tea in their parlour was Christie Hennessy who delighted the sisters with a selection of hits. There was a good crowd gathered in Glor Ennis tonight (Mon) for When Jolie Met Christie, a new musical theatre piece inspired by the life and music of the late Tralee born, singer songwriter, whose songs have been recorded by numerous Irish artists. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this tribute show but this was a multi layered and highly entertaining presentation .
The show is based on the premise that Christie Hennessy and Al Jolsen meet in heaven and the iconic jazz singer Jolsen becomes in effect the narrator who charts Christie's jouney through life, punctuated by Christie's songs . A similar device was used in the Avignon OFF production of Beethoevn Ce Manouche where the plot is built around a celestial meeting of Beethoven and Django Reinhardt. Here McAnally's monologues are a central part of the production rather than just a device to move from one number to the next. There were resonances also in Sandy Kelly's retelling of the Patsy Cline biography at this venue.
Aonghus McAnally, well known as a broadcaster shod in blue suede shoes demonstrates an impressive dramatic and vocal range as well as skillful guitar playing and portrays the egotistical Jolson and the mild mannered Christie with equal facility The story is a heart warming and compelling one, that of an orphaned illiterate emigrant, turned travelling troubadour who despite terrible travails gradually achieves 'stardom' . There are many noteworthy elements to the production directed by Ray Yeates. The set designed by Robert Ballagh is effective, the taut beautifully written script by SeanMcCarthy sustains the pace throughout . McAnally who delivers a compelling performance, is well supported on stage by musicians Nuala Ni Chanainn on violin, vocals , percussion and pianist Ivan McKenna. The amplification mercifully is unobtrusive and the colour of the string timbres is not distorted.
The show opens and closes with 'I am a Star' (Rolling Back the Clouds) and the closing number was greeted by a standing ovation by the audience . In Ennis the show attracted a relatively senior audience. McAnally who seemed positively energised by his experience on the Glor stage spoke to me about the role. You can hear the passion and enthusiasm for his subject in this interview following the show. Nearing the end of an extensive tour, a few opportunities remain to see the production in Castlebar, Leitrim, Drogheda and Bray. It is well worth a visit.
Aonghus McAnally talks about his role -foyer interview
Having successfully dipped into the fringe events earlier this week I returned to Wexford Opera House for one of the main events and attended the last night of Maria by Polish composer Statkowski. Some very useful context for the opera was delivered by assistant director Jack Furness at the excellent pre show talk. We learned that Maria was based on an epic poem of 'dire pessimism' the only known work of the poet. Statkowski wrote only two operas and this was the first time the work was heard outside Poland where it was infrequently performed. So, altogether, perfect programming by artistic director David Agler in the 'overlooked rare gem' category cultivated in Wexford programming.
Opera set in Walesa's Poland
Polish director Michael Gielata has updated the plot from 17th century to 1980's Poland, the era of Lech Walensa and Solidarnosc, and as a device it works very well most of the time. (However, there is an amusing moment when Maria sings of welcoming back her valiant hero by stringing up her lute and singing moonlit laments which might be a fun time in 17th century but unless it is slang is unlikely to have your 20th century warrior charging back from the frontline!). Like Gianni Schicchi, it features ennui at marriage outside social class with country girl Maria, daughter of a lowly civil servant considered an unsuitable match by the vain glorious father in law, Count Palatine, who orders her to be abducted and disposed of by his henchmen. The first half finishes with a party scene with all the men in military uniform and the women in maxi dresses and hairdos familiar from photos of memory lane columns of any local paper digging through the late 70's early 80's archive. There are folk dancers in Lithuanian costume and the the party goers awkwardly disco dancing to the romantic orchestral music used the dichotomy between original setting and staging to good comic effect.
Rafal Bartminski
The production uses superb black and white stills featuring austere images of 1980's Poland to great effect. (Apparently the Polish ambassador recognised his own face in one of the stills). The second act violence was very imaginatively conveyed with a video inset but went on a tad longer than necessary. The singing was of a high standard as you would expect but two performances stay in the mind. The Polish tenor Rafal Bartminski was very impressive as Maria's lover and the ghostly Waif played by Eleanor Jean Greenwood in concentration camp garb, striped pyjamas and head shaven, appears in two haunting scenes. It is the waif that tells Vaclav the awful truth about Maria's death followed swiftly by his suicide in order to be reunited with his beloved a la Tristan and Isolde or Romeo and Juliet. I was slightly disappointed not to see a ghostly image of Maria galloping by on a white horse at this point but the only large white animal making an appearance was a bear costume concealing a bunny girl in the party scene.
The orchestration is rich and played against the black and white images gives an early Hollywood film score vibe. One of the highlights is a hymn sungs acapella in unison by the male chorus before they go off to battle .
I am fortunate to have attended a number of opera events over the past year around Europe and Wexford was the most formal. Dress suits appear de rigeur (even in the cheap seats) and there were lots of really nice frocks. (My brother some years ago arrived in Wexford and thought he would take in a show. Being without the appropriate attire, he visited the local Oxfam shop where he was kitted out in fine style. Wexford is that kind of town.) Several former government ministers, were among the attendees and well they might enjoy the fruits of the large state funding for the project. Despite the promotional rates we saw very few under 35's and the audience seemed to be mostly retired senior folk. The challenge for the Wexford Opera, now more than ever is surely to to broaden the demographic of its audience. Tickets are relatively pricey* but the production values are unquestionably top class.
I do feel incidental expenses were excessive; the festival programme pricing was high (€20) and if you fancy something sparkling, a glass of champagne was rather too expensive at €16 for a glass and the more reasonably cava referred to in my blog post for 2010 seemed not to be on offer either in the Opera House or White's Hotel.
I brought along my tape recorder and recorded the thoughts of the people I met - see below.
We enjoyed our trip to this prestigious musical offering and we look forward to returning next season.
Lagrime mie Barbara Strozzi From Rosy Bowers Purcell Lord What is Man
Phobus eilt mit schnellen Pferden BMV518 Bach Bist du bei mir BMV508
Ave Maris Stella Nicholas de Grigny
Malcolm Proud and Róisín O Grady
Oh ! for a quill, drawn from your wing To write the praises of th'Eternal Love; Oh! for a voice like yours to sing That anthem here, which once you sung above Hallelujah! from Lord, what is man Purcell
The sun was splitting the stones outside the lovely 18th century Christchurch Cathedral in Waterford and there was an audience of around 70 to hear local soprano, Roisin O Grady give a recital of Baroque arias accompanied by Malcolm Proud. The performance by the duo would have graced any major international venue and was available to Waterford audiences for a very modest entry fee. Firstly full marks for providing texts and translations to each item. Roisin and Malcolm elaborated with succint spoken introductions which added much to the enjoyment of the occasion. Her voice is very much suited to this repertoire, very clear and pure , effortlessly agile in the florid sections, every syllable clearly articulated and all delivered with her great artistry in conveying the emotion in the song. I particularly enjoyed the Purcell numbers throughout whether at the harpsichord or organ , Malcolm Proud's accompaniment was just right .
Perfect! This will surely be the recital of the year for me.
Jordan's American Bar Study Hall, De La Salle College The Church- United Presbyterian and Methodist Churc, Patrick St. Theatre Royal
Power White, & Dower at Jordon's
What's rare is wonderful and a Francie White gig is a rarity ocurring once a year like some unusual arrangement of stars . The performance by this well known local artist was one of the highlights of Imagine 2010 and we looked forward to a repeat performance. On this occasion he was accompanied by Dunmore East based guitar player Gerry Power and bass player Michael Dower. There was quite a mellow vibe to the evening with the audience willingly crooning along with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and John Martyn numbers with Piaf's Autumn Leaves a real hit with the audience and good dollops of blues to shake it up a bit. There was much to enjoy both in the vocals and the skillful guitar accompaniment of Power who sang a John Prine number himself. Jordan's is a tight venue as less than twenty gig goers can occupy the space where you can see the performers and it was the smallest of the destinations I attended over the weekend.
De La Salle Entrance
Eibhear Walshe
The lofty study hall of De La Salle College was chosen particularly for its resonance with the past for former student Éibhear Walshe who read from his memoir, Cissie's Abbatoir, a rare account of growing up in Waterford in the 60's and 70's. The Saturday morning audience audience included family members, teachers and old school pals who took the opportunity to search the walls for photographs oftheir images from the past. Eibhear spoke about the buildings as the starting point for constructing his memoir where most of his locations are visible form the spot where we were assembled.
The best thing about the Katie Kim gig at The Church in Patrick St was the venue. The subdued lighting created a late night feel for perfomances by Burrows and Katie Kim's band. The fairy lights all along the sides were a nice touch and the enormous window must surely be one of the most impressive in the town's many fine buildings. and venue was well filled with an enthusiastic audience with admission attractively priced at €10. I felt the amplification robbed her voice of it's best qualities and reverb effects were overdone. Leaving aside the considerable technical problems that beset the performance, my impression was that that the artist was wrestling with her equipment and not always winning, diverting her energy away from conveying the message in her songs.
Gateway to The Church at Patrick St
The striking backdrop of the newly exposed city walls in the Theatre Royal set the stage for Penguin Café the reconstitution of legendary ground breaking ensemble Penguin Cafe Orchestra and quite a coup for the organising committee to have brought them to Waterford for the Imagine Festival this year. Most people in the audience were card carrying fans with well worn recordings of PCO in their collection.
Arthur Jeffe has assembled a diverse multi-instrumental ensemble to recreate the work of his late father Simon Jeffe who created a quirky style of purely instrumental music that borrowed inspiration from many diverse genres and the principles of physics alluded to with references to mathematicians Fibonacci and Pythagoras. Music for aFound Harmonium had particular appeal for Irish musicians and Sharon Shannon and Frankie Gavin are among the artists to cover it.
Formby
The two musical figures that came to my mind throughout both sets were the unlikely pairing of George Formby and Michael Nyman. (who played in Waterford earlier this year). Both halves opened with ukulele solos and at least four members of the group played ukulele at some part of the performance. George Formby who will be forever associated with the ukulele would have felt quite at home in this Victorian theatre space. He took to the music hall stage to recreate his own father's stage routines and there is a resonance surely with Arthur Jeffe recreating the sound of the iconic instrumental ensemble which had hits in the 80's and 90's. As with the Nyman, there is a minimalist approach with an emphasis on patterns and textures rather than melody and there are similarities in the playing techniques used by the string players who number high profile stars Nigel Kennedy and violist Roger Chase amongst the roll call of former members. We enjoyed chatting with band member Tom Chichester Clarke who kindly spent some time with audience goers following the gig.
Penguin Café (The dog sadly didn't appear)
Theatre Royal
Congratulations and thanks to the Imagine Festival organisers. There was much to brighten these late October days of gathering gloom. I am conscious returning to Waterford of the confluence of architectural elegance in the town and the excellent ongoing work in restoring and enhancing the many lovely buildings. Rather than choose an artistic highlight I have chosen the venues as the focus for this post. Our only complaint is that there were too many events and we couldn't get to all of them. We missed the imaginative programming of the silent movie Vampyr with organist Morgan Cooke at Christchurch Cathedral another of Waterford's architectural gems. Looking forward to next year already.
My Wexford Festival Highlights from yesterday were;
Gianni Schicchi Short Opera Whites's
Foyer at White's Hotel
Orchestral Concert Rowe Street Church
Lunch at La Dolce Vita
Luongo, pride of Pisa
We made the annual pilgrimage to the mecca for opera afficionados in the coastal town of Wexford and found it buzzing with the usual activity in this the 60th anniversary year
The conference room in White's Hotel was packed to capacity for the festival production of Puccini's short comic opera Gianni Schicchi. The maximum comic potential was extracted by the large cast (fourteen including a non singing character) I am delighted to see the surtitles (absences noted in my post 2010) have been reinstalled via two large plasma screen monitors on either side so we could follow every nuance in the comic plot.
Director Roberto Recchia plays a Hitchcockian cameo as the old man Buoso whose early onstage expiration is the catalyst for the ensuing mayhem. Recchia's programme note summarises the essence of this farcical plot set in the Tuscan capital, Florence. ‘Toscanissimo is the evil spirit and the cynicism that pervades the whole work. No one is good here’ -even the daughter Lauretta (played beautifully by Belfast born Marcella Walsh) who gets to sing the the plum aria Oh Mio Babbino Caro shamelessly manipulates her father to become involved in the deception which ultimately dooms them all to Dante’s inferno. The title role is played by Tuscan baritone Alessandro Luongo who brings his authentic accent to the role. Musical director Andrea Grant is a firm hand at the keyboard and keeps everything moving along briskly. She spoke to me about the technical aspects of her role.
Lunch at La Dolce Vita was a treat with chef-patron Roberto Pons
exuding bonhomie front of house with opera singers Alessandro Luongo and Alessandro Spina fresh from the stage amonst the diners. They were kind enough to speak to me about the opera and I had a brief chat with Roberto before he had to dash back to his kitchen.
White's Hotel foyer was the traditional lively hub and meeting point with people coming and going all day. The self service counter featured the most attractive range of sweet things I have seen for a while and the customary range of artists' work adorned the walls. Artist Mick Mulcahy was a new addition to the foyer and seemed to be going for a Tracey Emin look with his installation.
Card reads 'Art in action rather than sterile on the Wall' on Mulcahy's stall
Rowe Street Church was also full for the afternoon concert featuring the Wexford Festival Orchestra with leader Fionnula Hunt. Visibility was fairly poor from the rear pews but even from a distance young Venezuelan conductor CarlosIzcaray exuded a sense of dynamism on the podium and addressed the audience to set the context of the programme which included a tango by Golijov, a contempory of Piazzola and Beethoven’s rarely performed second symphony.
Carlos Izcaray
Champagne and canvases
We had a lovely day at WFO 2011. As always there was plenty of events to suit all tastes and a great sense of festival activity pervading throughout the town. I hope to return before the festival finishes to see one of the big works. My sources tell me that Maria is the musician's favourite. I look forward to posting a review .
Aix en Provence my review of a production at the Southern French town earlier this year.
My party commented that WFO 2011 has a relatively low presence and engagement on social media. The twitter hash tag yielded a scant selection. There is no link from main website to the fringe festival and while live blogging was trailed, the most up to date post is 2010 ! The Board and Marketing Department could take a look at Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011 exploitation of this medium . We found it difficult to get comprehensive online picture of all the activity and up to date information and consequently we missed events we would have considered attending . Kilkenny Arts Festival 2011
Young Slovakian violinist Vladimir Jablokov brought his quintet to Glór Ennis as last Wednesday in a programe of jazz and rock infused music underpinned with a fine classical virtuoso technique. I have to confess to approaching midweek events at this venue with a sense of trepidation as turnouts can tend to be low regardless of the calibre of artist and it is not a cosy venue for small intimate audiences. The audience in fact numbered a respectable eighty or so and filled the back section of the stalls and last row of front stalls with a core of half a dozen of us occupying the front row.
Vladimir bounded onto the Glor stage, the epitomy of cool in a natty silver grey piped suit with matching winkle pickers and ran through a set list drawn from his new album augmented with some from Fiddler on the Roof. He spoke a little bit about his background and his experiences of busking in Grafton Street where most of his fans will have heard him first. I first came across Vladimir in the Gaiety Theatre where his dulcimer ensemble attired in Hungarian costume entertained in the foyer of the Gaiety at a Jim Molloy production called the Great Waltz, a perfect aperitif to the sparkling fare that followed. The Slovak Festival Orchestra is another of his endeavours, a chamber orchestra of family members and conservatoire students who played with great verve and enthusiasm when I heard them at UCH Limerick. My review of Mario Lanza tribute show here. Classical Twist is a relatively new venture and having toured pubs last year including Upstairs at Dolan's last November (my review here ) is going into larger venues this year.
The show was great fun . Vladimir is a star, compelling to watch and plays with his usual exuberance moving around the stage like a stadium rocker tempered with the charm of a salon performer. He is very well served by his band. What a pleasure to hear Adam Kurac on a proper accoustic grand piano rather than an electric model . Kurac's arrangements and original compositions are subtle and viola players will appreciate the rich alto lines beautifully played by Stefan Balazovics. The line up includes Andrew Czibi on bass who aquitted himself very well on his first night with the band. If I had a criticism, it is that Conor Murray on drums was a little heavy handed overall particularly in Eleanor Rigby. Younger brother Victor Jablokov completed the quintet.
At this venue audiences tend to disperse favouring the tiered seats at the rear stalls leaving the large front stalls on the flat deserted which creates a distance between artists on stage and audience when numbers are less than a hundred. *
Many fans stayed to meet Vladimir and his band members who graciously came front of house to meet and greet following the show and while his new CD has much to recommend it, this is one act you have to see live!
*Several artists have remarked on this as they peered out to see if there is anyone there. Sitting in the front row with a few fellow enthusiasts with a gap of yards between you and the next full row can make one feel a little isolated . A middle aged lady on my left remarked she felt like a groupie. There must be a way to consolidate the audience reduce the size of the auditorium to create a more intimate space for these events. Is there a way of curtaining off the wide wing areas and introducing some subtle lighting so the artist can see his audience. Performers on the stalls floor works but I presume there are logistical difficulties in moving the piano .
There was a large crowd in the Danlann Colaiste Muire for the annual Open Night procedings. I always enjoy this occasion with the sense of excitement and optimism palpable amongst the potential new recruits. With my daughter in her last year, opportunities to hear the award winning choir are diminishing.
The choir and orchestra under conductors Carmel Griffin and Michael Hennessy sang Vive La Viva by Coldplay, a modern Benedictus (Karl Jenkins ?) and Rolling in the Deep by Adele.
As far as I am aware Colaiste Muire is one of the few schools in the region which has choir practice timetabled for every incoming first year thus ensuring every student has a musical education. You can hear an interview with dedicated director Carmel Griffin below.
I am very proud of this fledgeling ensemble in Holy Family School Ennis who gave therir first performance today after 11 lessons. You can read other reports on the group and follow their progress over on progress here
Ms Gill's Class Trio Conga Bass Violin Announcing a piece All together Mr Connolly's class Mr Connolly's Ensemble Ms B...
I am ambivalent generally about one man (or woman) performances of any description but we had an inkling that we would hear something extraordinary when legendary folk singer Peggy Seeger was a guest of Sixmilebridge Folk Club County Clare. The intimate Courthouse venue was crammed with circa 120 or so which for a midweek evening, even with a star of Seeger's renown is a feat of good marketing and PR work by the astute Brendan Walsh and the hard working committee members. We arrived too late to hear Tommy Sands but in time for a cup of tea before Seeger took to the small stage. She was introduced by Cork based promoter John Nyhan who referred to encountering the Seeger siblings legendary recordings in trips to Crowleys Music Shop in Cork. Even for the uninitiated the Seeger name has a resonance following decades of collecting, recording and composing.
Wearing no make up and and with cropped grey hair, Seeger is a striking and commanding presence and looked elegant in a simple black and white ensemble. This is after all, the face which inspired one of the great love songs of the 20th century. With a matronly concern she advised her capacity audience to stretch their legs and get some fresh air before launching her set in the packed intimate Courthouse venue.
Peggy's Box
Over the course of an hour or so she performed on a diverse collection of folk instruments and also accompanying herself very adroitly at the piano. The songs range from simple unaccompanied ballads, to witty comic turns and hard hitting protest songs. Her consort of instruments included an Applachian Dulcimer rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic, the familiar concertina, banjo, guitar and autoharp. I particularly liked the soft gut string munitions box lute. At interludes she read some humourous quotations from a folder of clippings.
She spoke warmly about her upbringing in an musically accomplished household. I was reminded of Andy Irvineboth in the references to the parental musical influence in other genres, the enduring enthusiasm for the road despite maturity, and intellectual rigour underpinning the performance . Her song Bringing it Home towards the end of the evening was for me the highlight of a wonderful entertaining evening.
Munitions Box Lute
Packed Courthouse
My only quibble is that the flourescent lighting was too bright and militated aginst a soiree ambience. Following the performance Peggy Seeger retired to the back room to meet and greet and to attend to the post concert commercial * end of the evening
What wonderful energy, emotion and wit she brought to her performance at this intimate venue. Bravo Peggy! A memorable and delightful musical evening!
*( Although an important part of the procedings, I do feel the promoter or host might make someone available to help with the business end leaving the star performer free to sign and chat without the mundane task of finding 'change of a twenty')
The Irish Association of Youth Orchestras (IAYO) is a resource body dedicated to supporting the endeavours of youth orchestras in Ireland. Over the years the ensembles that I have worked with have benefited from their instrument bank and pool of expertise. The annual festival hosted usually in the National Concert Hall is a well managed show case event that provides a memorable platform experience for the many young players fortunate to participate.
The annual AGM was held at the Cork School of Music last Sunday. The procedings began with a tour of the impressive state of the art new building with staff memberTomás McCarthy. The view from the library at the top floor is perhaps the best in the city. Having viewed a dizzying array of technological features and (yes I can vouch there are two Steinways in every practice room), the group paused at a most unusual feature which stood out from the gleaming glass, chrome and tehnical wizardry - a beautifully crafted wooden bookcase with a selection of handsome music volumes with ancient fonts and gasp! gold lettering.
Following lunch and AGM, we were treated to a performance by a student ensemble of arrangements of folksongs by degree students under conductor Geoffrey Spratt with Alan Cutts at the piano. The dozen or so numbers, most of them familiar arranged for strings with flute, clarinet and percsussion were a charming collection and suitable for intermediate orchestras with players around grade 3 or so. They will be an excellent addition to many school ensemble's repertoire.
Tomás McCarthy in the studio
Well done to CEO Allin Gray and Bertie Buckley There is always something interesting and worth the trip at this annual meeting and as always good to catch up with fellow musicians and to make new contacts. Membership rates are inexpensive and a a wide range of groups from fledgeling small ensembles to symphony orchestras are on the list of members
