The new chamber choir Draiocht seems to be aiming for a high public profile. It has appeared at the Light Ceremony in Omagh, produced a CD, Irish Voices for Peace, and sung in Wales at the invitation of Celtic Connections.
There were 23 singers on the platform for the choir's lunchtime concert at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre last Wednesday. Their programme of madrigals, arrangements and medleys had a popular tone, which was matched by the singing.
Draiocht's unforced tone, impeccable diction and accurately rounded attack were welcome. However, there was a want of identity in the sound. It was generalised - good in range of volume but lacking in variation of colour, and inclined to intermittent bouts of flat pitch in one section or another.
The conductor, Blanaid Murphy, paced each piece nicely and Siobhan Kilkelly provided solid, unobtrusive support on the piano. Yet poor judgment was shown in presenting a duet arrangement of a song as demanding as Schubert's celebrated Standchen.
This epitomised the overall impression that Draiocht needs to decide what it can do best. The lighter side of art music, such as the Stanfordlike Truly I Have Set My Heart by the Wexford composer Sue Furlong, and Passereau's Il est bel et bon, was competent but unremarkable. Despite some uncertain entries in Michael Casey's Carpenters' Medley, this was the piece which received the most persuasive performance.
