Irish Times writers review Callion String Quartet, Lynch at the Hugh Lane Gallery and One Man Star Wars Trilogy at Spirit, Dublin.
Callino String Quartet, Lynch
Hugh Lane Gallery
Mozart - Quartet in A K169; Quintet in G minor K516
There are only six weeks left in the present Mozart anniversary year - 250 years since his birth in 1756. And while no one ever needs an anniversary to play or listen to Mozart, the year has seen - and continues to see - performances of some of his best-known, best-loved symphonies, concertos, and choral music. Occasionally, there has also been less familiar Mozart, including both works at this free concert.
It would be no wonder that the Quartet in A K 169 is less familiar if string players generally agreed with gruff commentator Hans Keller. It's one of six from 1773 and among those early Mozart quartets which Keller says "are quite abominable . . . far from being suitable for concert performance".
But even while not matching the masterworks of Haydn's Opus 20 set which inspired it, poor old K 169 has enough charm and intricacy to engage less gruff listeners.
This was the Callino in their new alignment since the departure of founding leader Ionna Petcu-Colan in August. Sarah Sexton - who has moved to leader from second violin - and cellist Sarah McMahon remain from the quartet's formation in 1999. The new second violin is Michaela Girardi; Becky Jones is the viola player. Sexton is strong and expressive as leader, and the four played with a notable solidarity of musical thinking.
This was tested further in the G minor Quintet, another less frequently performed work for which they were joined by viola player John Lynch. Mozart exploited new instrumental combinations in his string quintets, such as in the first movement here when the violins fall silent and the viola (Jones) sings a melody over accompaniment by the second viola and cello.
The Callino worked the different groupings well, capturing Mozart's special feeling for G minor while also bringing out what you could call the feminine in the third movement's tender trio in the major. And there was a rewarding release of all that G minor tension in the finale's happy jig.- Michael Dungan
One Man Star Wars Trilogy
Spirit, Dublin
A reasonably long time ago in a galaxy conveniently close by, George Lucas created a cultural phenomenon thinly disguised as a series of sci-fi flicks.
Its complicated universe of planets, characters and mystical pseudo-religions proved enough to enslave a nerdy generation. Charles Ross, an engaging Canadian performer who has condensed the action, spectacle and hairstyles of the original Star Wars Trilogy into an hour-long one-man performance, is clearly a fan of galactic proportions.
On a bare stage, dressed in a black overall, the energetic Ross recreates the trilogy with brisk but obsessive attention to detail, beginning with an eerily precise impersonation of the 20th Century Fox drum roll and leaving no subsequent musical theme unhummed nor sound effect unbleeped.
Any show where the jokes stem from the spot-on recreation of a film shot will require an audience intimately familiar with the subject.
One of the biggest laughs of the night, for instance, comes when Ross wordlessly affects the brooding stance of Luke Skywalker (a figure he mocks mercilessly, perhaps even jealously), his fingers ruffling his hair like the wind. For anyone whose adolescence coincided with the rise of the VHS recorder, this is a hoot. For the uninitiated or the merely casually acquainted, however, it is bewildering.
With a title like that, of course, Ross hardly misrepresents himself, and those whose youth has been similarly misspent between the twin suns of Tatooine and moon of Endor will delight and maybe even cringe as he maps out the saga. For all his undoubted affection, Ross also
has the good sense to satirise the trilogy's absurdities, breaking into occasional moments of parody and knowing asides. When the fantasy is punctured, devotees laugh with recognition and relief.
As a performer, however, Ross's talents rarely extend beyond the ability to speedily recap an unwieldy narrative (his other show is a one-man Lord of the Rings). His skills thus lie in indication rather than creation, in jogging memories rather than firing imaginations. For his intended audience, though, this ought to be enough: The Jedi is in the details. Until Nov 25 - Peter Crawley
