Reviews

Fiachra Garvey (piano)NCH John Field Room, Dublin
Mozart– Sonata in D K576. Debussy– Études Book 2. Breffni O'Byrne– Geantraí a hAon. Liszt – Sonata in B minor.

FIACHRA GARVEY was the most successful Irish contestant at this year’s Dublin International Piano Competition in May. Earlier in the year, he won the Mabel Swainson Pianoforte Award at the ESB Feis Ceoil. And Tuesday’s recital in the National Concert Hall was given as part of the Mabel Swainson prize.

His programme was carefully tailored, offering works in four contrasting styles, one for each century from the 18th to the 21st.

In Mozart’s final piano sonata his playing was clear and sculpted, careful in scale and balanced in expression. It didn’t always sound entirely natural in effect, however, the presentation having more the air of well-grounded preparation than real personal conviction.

That conviction was to be found in abundance in a headstrong account of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, which swelled and shook as often as it reeled into backwaters of introspective calm. In other words, it was very much a young man’s view of Liszt, impulsive, exaggerated, showy, living on the edge, and occasionally tripping over it.

Geantraí a hAon by Breffni O'Byrne, winner of the National Concert Hall's 2007 Jerome Hynes Composer's Competition and the Günter Bialas Competition for Chamber Music Composition 2009, is the prelude to a series of pieces exploring the emotion of joy. Garvey presented its ecstatically saturated harmony with real conviction. MICHAEL DERVAN

Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra/SheilNCH, Dublin

Bizet– Carmen.

LYRIC OPERA’S production of Carmen is back for a second short run, with radical differences in casting from 2007. Imelda Drumm brings distinguished experience to the titular role.

For all the fearlessness of her flirtations, her exceedingly fine voice gives this gypsy femme fatale the aura of an aristocrat in disguise. It’s thus the darker, tragic side of the character that reveals Drumm at her best.

For Michael Wade-Lee as Don José, body language and vocal flexibility appear to be at a premium, giving a rather one-sided feel to the love-hate chemistry of his crucial duets.

In contrast is the superb portrayal of Micaëla by Claudia Boyle, who shoulders the plot’s weighty moral burden with uncomplicated and affecting sincerity. And for the part of Escamillo, Toby Stafford Allen has just the right credentials.

Though the chorus members move more gracefully than in 2007, and produce a fulsome tutti when required, they’re often too busy to follow the finely judged direction of conductor Fergus Sheil. Sheil’s orchestra plays quite beautifully, however, and often manages to sound much bigger than it is. Final performance tomorrow. ANDREW JOHNSTONE

Veronica McSwiney (piano) NCH,

John Field Room, Dublin

Scarlatti– Sonata in C K159. Schubert – Impromptu in A flat D899 No 4.

Mendelssohn– Andante and Rondo capriccioso.

Field– Nocturne No 1.

Grieg– Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen.

Debussy– Clair de Lune.

Falla– Ritual Fire Dance.

Chopin– Polonaise in A flat Op 53.

BITTY PROGRAMMING is something novice recitalists soon learn to avoid, and with her wealth of experience Irish pianist Veronica McSwiney had not taken lightly the decision to play a bitty programme.

The decision paid off: what looked like a shopping list of favourite short works proved a bonanza of steel-hearted music making. Though accuracy may not have been total, that much more important element – the grip on the listener’s attention – was unremitting.

At times, the experience could be challenging. There was clarion definition to the arched melodies of Mendelssohn, Field and Schubert, the latter’s passagework came off with sharply pointed brittleness, and Scarlatti’s jaunty little sonata was almost aggressive in its assertiveness.

McSwiney's effortless éclat reaped rich benefits, however, not only in the visceral impressionism of Falla, but also in the painterly impressionism of Debussy – where the depicted moonlight seemed of the rarest, brightest kind. ANDREW JOHNSTONE