REVIEWS

A selection of reviews by Irish Timescritics

Lott, Murray, Johnson

National Concert Hall, Dublin

This Irish TimesCelebrity Concert brought together the distinguished talents of Felicity Lott (soprano), Ann Murray (mezzo- soprano) and Graham Johnson (piano).

Such experienced collaborations are rare: all three artists have been members of the Songmaker's Almanac since Johnson founded it in 1976.

Yet an evening of duets and alternating solos by the equanimous Dame Felicity and the more mercurial Murray might still have developed into something of a clash between two great voices.

Their distinct personas - one prizing purity and precision, the other freedom and sheer sway - were revealed in the opening item, a delicious duo vocalised by Schubert.

The contrast was epitomised in two pairs of folksong arrangements by Britten, the English soprano tripping through Come You Not from Newcastleand Sweet Polly Oliverwith inimitable crystal diction, and the Irish mezzo holding Rich and Rareand The Last Rose of Summerin a grasp of near-operatic gravity.

That said, the shared sense of wit, taste and saucy fun was such that neither singer could detract from the other. Whether they were oozing through the calorific chromaticism of Schubert's Licht und LiebeD352, or relishing a counterpoint of double entendre in Art Swanstone's Wobble it, this was a double-act to cherish.

Some of the duets - such as three of Mendelssohn's Op 63 vocal duets and Rossini's La pescaand Voga, o Tonio- relegated Murray to a register where it would be hard for any mezzo not to err on the gruff side.

But more than adequate compensations came with her gripping personification of besotted hysteria in Rossini's solo Anzoleta co passa la regatta.

In Mendelssohn's Witches' SongOp 8 No 8, Dame Felicity kept any temptation to screech at bay, yet somehow conjured up the aura of some semi-distracted proto-Valkyrie.

Johnson's accompaniments chiefly remained in an efficient background, although Brahms's Walpurgis NightOp 75 No 4 brought him storming to the fore. ANDREW JOHNSTONE

Camerata Ireland/ Douglas

NCH, Dublin

Schumann- Piano Concerto.

Mendelssohn- Piano Concerto No 1.

Schubert- SymphonyNo 3

Camerata Ireland and their founding conductor, Barry Douglas, played this programme with energy and bonhomie. Throughout Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, and even more so in Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No 1, Douglas's virtuosity was amazing. There is true charisma in his ability simultaneously to draw the players with him and to be completely on top of such demanding concertos while directing from the keyboard.

However, for most of the concert those qualities were too unrelenting, and resulted in a kind of music-making that skimmed the surface without getting into the deeper aspects of works that call for subtlety. In the Schumann, for example, rhythm was driven hard, with accent more prominent than metre, resulting in plenty of immediate tension, but little lyricism.

Mendelssohn was about 20 when he wrote his Piano Concerto No 1, and it sounds at its best if the piano's plenitude of notes seem to spring from youthful deftness.

On this occasion they were the work of a young, roaring lion; and that did violence to things that are written deeply into the music. Although there is nothing wrong with directing such concertos from the keyboard - Douglas's normal practice with Camerata Ireland, it is wrong to drive the music from the keyboard. It damages this work's delicate contrasts between orchestra and piano, and gives the piano a forwardness that the piece cannot bear.

It was disappointing that those concertos and a high-tension account of Schubert's Symphony No 3 turned out to be at least as frustrating as they were impressive. It was significant that some of the best moments in the concert were in the slow movement of the Mendelssohn, where the very nature of the music compelled everyone to relax. MARTIN ADAMS

Elio Villafranca Jazz Quartet Music Network

The Coach House, Dublin Castle

That point of intersection, where American and Cuban music collides is a moving target. Cuban pianist, Roberto Fonseca who visited Dublin late last year, revelled in the interleaving of Latin rhythms and Manhattanite candour and control. Elio Villafranca mines an altogether more dispassionate and propulsive seam, where his Cuban roots ground his sizzling quartet. Relish their release into the more turbulent waters of American jazz as soon as the lights go down.

Villafranca's control is palpable from the get go. Negrita Prende La Vela(from his first recording, Incantations/Encantaciones) soars on the back of his languid piano and saxophonist,

Jane Bunnett's breathtaking explorations of both rhythm and melody, the pair fencing with one another in Olympian feats of concentration. Bassist, Yunior Terry paces like a panther through the undergrowth and drummer, Ludwig Afonso brings an unfettered, often dissonant voice to the mix.

Elio Villafranca's style is immersed in that quintessential Cuban pianist tradition, characterised by an indelible spirit of adventure, where players marry languid pacing with a profound desire for improvisation. He glories in an almost classical approach to composition on Three Plus Onebut then departs from any question of predictability with his driving, insistent route to infinity, egged on by Jane Bunnett who hurtled into overdrive, propelled by Villafranca's almost startling momentum.

Villafranca spoke with evident affection of his Cuban influences, from the often undervalued Cuban country music, Tonada to his original composition, Oddua Suite,

which takes as its reference point the agricultural economy of his home place of Western Cuba's Pinar Del Rio. The fusion of folklore and jazz on the latter song was somewhat forced, a dissonant jigsaw puzzle that forced two traditions to share the limelight, rather than seeking to meld them in any way.

Jane Bunnett introduced her flute for the second half of this breathtaking performance, although she struggled at times with a less than optimal microphone.

Her playing was the scaffold that united these three highly individual musicians, and echoed Villafranca's tone, which was meditative and utterly driven in equal parts. A magical and often challenging repertoire from start to finish. SIOBHÁN LONG