The Irish Ring (exc.)
The "Irish Ring" is one of the sillier nicknames in music; but it has stuck. The three operas - Balfe's The Bohemian Girl, Wallace's Maritana and Benedict's The Lily of Killarney - were hits on the London stage 150 years ago, but have not endured in the repertoire. Balfe and Wallace were born in Ireland, and while Benedict's opera has an Irish subject, the composer was German.
The most important link between these works is their common root in English ballad opera, where music provided easy-listening entertainment through tuneful, strophic songs, sentimental or lusty choruses, and simple duets and ensembles. That purpose was underlined by Tuesday night's presentation in the National Concert Hall, of excerpts from all three works. It was the sixth concert in the occasional "From La Scala to the Met" series.
The core events in the preposterous plots were succinctly presented by Angela Molloy. In music which needs all the help it can get, more definition in the playing of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Aidan Faughey, would have gone a long way. And overall balance was not helped by the vocal amplification. These weaknesses were off-set, to some extent, by the full-blooded singing of the Dublin County Choir.
The minor vocal roles were well-taken by Miriam Blennerhasset (mezzo soprano), Patrick Doherty (baritone) and Derek Ryan (bass). Kathryn Smith (soprano) sang the main female roles in a communicative way which depended more on timing and impeccable diction than precision of pitch or vocal colour. The most subtle singing came from Anthony Kearns (tenor), whose lyric tone, poise and sense of line got the best out of such songs as Balfe's When Other Lips.
