Irish Times reviewers give their verdicts on a selection of musical and theatrical performances around the country
Lance Coburn (piano), Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama SO, RIAMSO/Richard Armstrong at the NCH, Dublin
A Short Ride in a Fast Machine - John Adams
Piano Concerto No 3 - Prokofiev
Symphony No 1 - Mahler
The student orchestras of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama are on a "Hands across the sea" initiative, giving concerts together in England, Ireland (North and South), and Scotland.
The tour has been received as innovative enough for the printed programme to carry good wishes from Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, Scotland's First Minister, Jack McConnell, as well as the director of the RIAM, John O'Conor, and the principal of the RASMD, John Wallace, the man who dreamt the whole project up in the first place.
The concerts are being conducted by Richard Armstrong, music director of Scottish Opera, and no less than three concertos feature in the project as a whole.
The Dublin leg, on Tuesday, found Lance Coburn, a New Zealand-born, Australian-trained, post-graduate student at the RIAM, to be a young man in a hurry in Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto. Coburn delighted in the whipping up of froth and frenzy to the point where he almost seemed to be pitting the odds against himself, or, rather, rushing to the point where his role as valiant hero was highlighted as he attempted to counter the might of the orchestra.
John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a zippy concert opener that the young players took to with glee. And Mahler's First Symphony is a large canvas that reveals some of the more hidden aspects of its character when, as was the case here, there's the tension of difficulties not always fully surmounted in the playing - that tension restores something of the outrageousness which early listeners seem to have perceived so clearly in this piece.
Tuesday's highlights came in the deliciously crafted pianissimo in the Ländler-style Scherzo, and the beautifully languorous Trio which followed. The many climactic urgings of the finale were generously attended to, and it seemed appropriate that the horn section, which played with consistent musical point, got to stand (as requested by the composer in the score, to make a greater sonic impact) before the rest of the orchestra had even finished playing.
Michael Dervan
Edmund Battersby (piano) at the RIAM, Dublin
Rondo in A minor, K511; Sonata in A minor, K310 - Mozart
Sonata in G minor, Op.22. - Schumann
Nocturnes, Op. 9/3, Op. 62/2; Impromptu, Op. 29; Mazurkas, Op. 67/1, Op. 33/3; Etudes Op 10/6, 25/8, 25/10, 25/12 - Chopin
It would be hard to imagine a greater contrast than that between Mozart and Schumann as presented by Edmund Battersby. In the music of Mozart he found a surface elegance that might almost mislead one into seeing nothing but an aristocratic divertissement, but the seriousness, the profundity of the Rondo and the Sonata were never for a moment in doubt. The pianist respected the composer's intentions and understood his motives, so that his interpretation, as fluent as it was faithful, gave one a fresh insight into a bygone world.
In Schumann's Sonata in G minor, on the other hand, one could immediately sense the manic depressive nature of the composer's inspiration. This was a performance, moody and passionate, that wore its heart upon the sleeve as boldly as the music did, and one felt a stir of sympathy for Herr Wieck who did not wish to have Schumann as a son-in-law. This was music on the edge of breakdown and the pianist knew how to keep it there without falling into the abyss.
Edmund Battersby concluded Monday's recital in the Dagg Hall with a generous selection of Chopin's shorter pieces. He sees Chopin not as the dandy in white gloves, but as the patriot and lover who has found forms that simultaneously woo the higher echelons of Parisian society and express his private passion. Battersby gave powerful performances that showed how much closer to Schumann than to Mozart Chopin was.
Douglas Sealy
The Constant Wife at the Everyman Palace, Cork
This satirical commentary by Somerset Maugham is essentially a comedy of manners; Maugham's view of the battle between the sexes hones the aridity of its theatrical period - the interval between the two World Wars - into an elegance reminiscent of Wilde, Shaw and Coward.
However, there is virtually no plot; the Middleton marriage is sustained by infidelity on one part (his) and practical acceptance on the other (hers). Mrs Middleton has come to realise that the only important freedom is economic freedom, and this, to the chagrin of her husband who promptly falls back in love with her as a result, she achieves without difficulty.
Designer Patrick Murray has responded so well to the plot's demand that both set and cast be extremely well-dressed. The cut-glass syllables and perfect poise of Catherine Prendergast as Mrs Middleton carry the play's social context with conviction. It's not a heavy burden anyway, although Maugham's sentences are sometimes too long and demand considerable rhythmic control from the cast, among whom Ronnie O'Shaughnessy shines. This is a play without drama; but somehow this cast, assisted by the introductory device of the butler's annunciations, manage to infuse just a little tension to relieve the calm.
Continues until November 16th
Mary Leland
Malcolm Proud (organ)/Christ Church Cathedral Choir/Christ Church Baroque/Mark Duley at Christ Church, Dublin
Cantata 38 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir - Bach
Der Gerechte kommt um - Bach
Cantata 109 Ich glaube, lieber Herr - Bach
Seasonal organ music and chorales
Duley invited the audience at Sunday's Abendmusik concert in Christ Church Cathedral to reserve applause until the end.
The programme was, he said, "like a good menu - one thing leads naturally on to the other." And so it proved, for this 75-minute sequence of seasonal works by Bach was beautifully designed.
Hearing sung chorales in conjunction with organ and choral music based on them is almost always a voyage of discovery. You do not just relish the relationships between pieces: you can glimpse a now-lost, seamless relationship between religious belief, popular culture and high-art composition.
Christ Church Cathedral Choir's German still needs sharpening up, especially in differentiating vowels, but in other respects the choir was on reliable form. Their beautifully coloured singing of the motet Der Gerechte kommt um was a treat. So was Malcolm Proud's playing of the organ chorales - impeccably paced and full of life, even at the slowest tempos.
Simon Baker, the countertenor soloist for Cantatas 38 and 109, stood next to the conductor, and his strong-voiced singing came across clearly. But the tenor soloist, Andrew Carwood, seemed hampered by being placed between the orchestra and choir. Despite his always-pleasing sound, his contribution was less-focused.
Christ Church Baroque's 16 instrumentalists comprised the usual mix of a handful of regulars with long experience in Baroque techniques, plus modern orchestral players. The inconsistency showed in some blurring of detail and ensemble. Yet there was good work on baroque oboes from Mark Radcliffe and Caroline Radcliffe; and the dominant impression was of lively, stylish playing. That virtue owed much to the subtly strong presence of the guest leader, Maya Homburger.
Michael Dervan
Aida at the NCH, Dublin
Verdi's masterpiece is an opera that combines the spectacle of French grand opéra with the inherently Italian orchestral - and vocal - writing virtuosity of his mature style.
It is full of his characteristic melodic invention, music that should lie happily on the voices of the singers. But good Verdi singers are something of an endangered species, and the composer was not well served by what the artists involved in Sunday's presentation at the NCH had to offer.
There were some impressive voices, most notably the bass Valeriu Cojocaru as the High Priest and Ludmila Magomedova in the title role. Magomedova acted convincingly and projected her focused spinto soprano strongly. She made much of her two big arias, but ultimately marred an otherwise good performance by her preference for declamatory rather than legato delivery.
Liliana Lavric, as Amneris, was much smoother in her phrasing, but her attractively-covered mezzo lacked incisiveness in attack and she was too often drowned in ensemble. Tenor Nicolae Busuioc had no audibility difficulty, but his stiffly-acted Radamès was coarsely sung throughout and his Italian pronunciation was dubious.
The most convincing Verdian style came from Boris Maternico in the baritone role of Aida's father. But even his assured performance was undermined by the erratic conducting of Alexandru Samoila, whose loose phrasing and tweaking of tempos began during the prelude and became increasingly irritating as the evening went on.
The production, mounted in a basic set of sand-coloured ancient Egyptian motifs and played in attractive costumes, at least for the principals, was a throw-back to the good/bad old days of line up, stand and deliver. And, when it came to delivering, no-one did so more enthusiastically than the rich-toned Chisinau chorus.
The opera was performed note-complete, with the second-act ballet included and performed by a team of eight-good dancers.
John Allen
