The Supergrass gig at the Ambassador, Andras Schiff in the NCH, Kate Gannon, also in the NCH and Giselle at the Grand Opera House in Belfast are reviewed by Irish Times critics
Supergrass Ambassador
Kevin Courtney
Supergrass were the joker in the Britpop pack, but they've since proved to be a wild card that's exceeded its face value. The lads from Oxford had all the ingredients for disposability: proto-hippy sideboards, short, snappy guitar tunes, and lyrics about being young, running green and keeping their teeth nice and clean. It all shouldn't have lasted more than 15 minutes, yet here we are at the Ambassador, waiting patiently for the band to arrive down from Montrose, where they've been making a Late Late Sh
At around quarter past ten, Gaz, Mickey, Danny and Gaz's older brother Rob open their account with Za, the opening track from their fine new album, Life On Other Planets. Written on a red wine binge in the South of France, the band's fourth album blends the youthful exuberance of their debut, I Should Coco, with the mischievous plundering of their last two, In It For The Money and Supergrass. Seen The Light could be Marc Bolan circa 1974, while Prophet 15's chorus is presaged by Wings' Let 'Em In and LA Song is choked up with residue from the Stranglers. Musical magpies they may be, but Supergrass sure use their influences to maximum pop effect, particularly on Rush Hour Soul, Grace and Sun Hits The Sky. Granted, there's a reassuringly old-fashioned feel to the 'Grass, as though we've been whisked back to some 1970s rock festival to watch a bunch of hairy musos doing the prog-rock shuffle. Moving condenses Floyd's bloated pig into a streaky rock 'n' roll rasher, and a version of Neil Young's The Loner sounds freshly harvested. Caught By The Fuzz gives us a flashback to our teenage misdemeanours, and reminds us why we still like Supergrass - they make us feel young and green again.
Andras Schiff
NCH, Dublin
Douglas Sealy
Piano Trio in G minor, op.15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smetna
Sonata 1:x:1905. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janacek
Sonata for Violin and Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janacek
Pohadka, for Cello and Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janacek
Piano Quintet in A, op. 81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dvorak
The Andras Schiff Chamber Music Weekend in the NCH, with Andras Schiff (piano), Yuuko Shiokawa (violin) Miklos Perenyi (cello) and the Panocha String Quartet, concluded with an evening of Czech music. Janacek belonged to the generation that come after Smetana's - Dvorak's came in between - so it is not surprising that his music strikes out in new directions and appeals more immediately to our ears, but what the concert made plain was how close his music lies to that of his predecessors, even if he gave it a markedly individual twist.
The participation of Andras Schiff in all the works performed, as well as the Czech connection, helped to underline the similarities; for the pianist's stlye is incisive and clearly detectable. It was at its most effective in Janacek's Sonata for Piano 1:x:1905 and in the Sonata for Violin and Piano, in both of which one senses that the music is trying to say more than the mere notes convey. It is true that Smetana's Piano Trio was written in response to a private tragedy and is an expression of grief but it is more conventional in form and this holds the emotion in check; the performance by Schiff, Shiokawa and Perenyi was so forceful that the emotion escaped and was dissipated.
More genial was Janacek's Pohadka (fairy tale) and Dvorak's Piano Quintet. In the Quintet Schiff was joined by the Panocha String Quartet. There is no hidden message here, just pleasure in the creation of beguiling tunes and the weaving of contrasting textures. The players found endless reservoirs of sweetness. Andreas Shiff (piano) is joined by Yuuko Shiokawa (violin), Miklos Perenyi (cello) and the Panocha String Quartet.
Kate Gannon (soprano), Dearbhla Brosnan (piano)
NCH John Field Room
Douglas Sealy
THE Main repertoire of Kate Gannon consists of the belcanto and coloratura roles of the 19th century, but the lunchtime recital in the NCH John Field Room included an aria by Alessandro Scarlatti from 1683, Air de la fauvette (1771) by Gretry and Love Hath Echos by Bryan Barnes who was present to acknowledge the applause.
The florid belcanto style was well represented in the Gretry, in Rossini's Una voce poco fa from The Barber of Seville, in Lo! Here the gentle lark (1819) by Sir Henry Bishop, and in Carceleras (1889) by Ruperto Chapi y Lorente - this last strongly influenced by the flamenco singing of Andalusia.
Three songs by Herman Bemberg, a pupil of Bizet and Massenet, showed how good the minor French composers were; Bemberg's settings, like those of Reynaldo Hahn, also a pupil of Massenet, were full of grace and feeling, though if one were to Bemberg's setting of Prudhomme's soupir with that of Duparc, the former would suffer, in spite of Kate Gannon's advocacy. It is a measure of her success in presenting these songs, once so fashionable and now almost forgotten, that the comparison comes to mind.
Bryan Barnes's settings of three poems by Thomas Moore - Echo, Oh! Breathe not his name, and Nights of music - though obviously not of the 19th century, were as tuneful as Bemberg and stylistically appropriate to Moore's gentle lyricism. The singer and her accompanist (Derbhla Brosnan) served them well.
Giselle
Grand Opera House, Belfast
Jane Coyle
NCE its establishment in 1988, in the immediate aftermath of the post-Soviet reforms, Moscow City Ballet has forged a deservedly high reputation for touring high-quality productions of the great 19th century classical ballets. While traditional presentations of the original choreography ranks high on the company's priorities, its founder and artistic director Victor Smirnov-Golovanov has always encouraged his soloists to develop their own dramatic interpretations and character portrayals. Thus, the jewel in this Giselle is the revelatory performance by young Natalia Padalko in the title role. A face and a name new to UK audiences, Padalko is a most exciting arrival into the ranks of MCB's principal dancers. When her dancing days are over, an acting career must surely be on the cards, for few who witnessed it will forget her chilling descent from fresh-faced, carefree girl into distracted, grief-stricken, jilted bride, her jerky movements, tangled hair and pallid face reflecting the agony of a young life literally falling apart from within.
The late admission of the opening night audience into the auditorium implied that rehearsals and preparations had continued right up to the wire, a fact underlined by some wobbly moments on the raked stage by the normally rock-solid corps de ballet and one or two technical glitches. But all was forgiven in the crisp unfolding of the famous tale of the happy but delicate girl, who is doomed to end her days in the Underworld, among the ethereal, joyless ghosts of others who have shared the same fate.
Padalko's meltingly beautiful, light-as-a-feather dancing is superbly supported by Talgat Kozhabaev's strong, rangy Count Albrecht, in whom she clearly puts total trust. Theirs is a rare pairing, based on mutual confidence and understanding. Such partnerships are notoriously hard to create and one looks forward to seeing this one on stage many times again in the future.
