Martin Adamsreviews Lynda Lee and Alan Smale with the RTÉ NSO at the National Concert Hall and Brian Keanereviews David Kitt at Dublin's Button Factory

Lee, Smale, RTÉ NSO/ Maloney

NCH, Dublin

Rossini- Cenerentola Overture. Rossini- Una voce poco fa. Puccini- O mio babbino caro. Vivaldi- Winter. Puccini- Tu che di gel sei cinta. Verdi- Pace, pace, mio dio. Ponchielli- Dance of the Hours.

This was one of those occasions at which the performances got better as the concert progressed.

Although the opening item in this all-Italian programme, Rossini's Overture to La Cenerentola, was clean and tight, it was seriously wanting in the playful energy that can make this fairytale music bubble.

In the four vocal items on the programme, Lynda Lee's shapely and pleasing singing proved to be among the concert's highlights. However, the orchestral playing was variable, the problems showing mainly in the way the orchestra related expressively to the voice.

Puccini's voluptuous vocal writing is supported by sumptuous orchestral writing that can subtly yet forcefully intensify the vocal expression. On this occasion, in "O mio babbino caro" (from Gianni Schicchi) and "Tu che di gel sei cinta" (from Turandot), the playing was well-coordinated with Lynda Lee's flexible singing. But it was terribly eyes-on-the-notes and seemed to have little awareness of what those vivid sounds should be achieving. It was wanting in warmth, in caress, in long-line melodic shape.

For Winter, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra's string section was trimmed down, and was led from the solo violin by the orchestra's leader, Alan Smale. It was a lively and commendably tight performance, though rhythmic energy sometimes sagged during the quiet passages.

The strongest performances were at the end. The intense orchestral playing in "Pace, pace, mio dio", from Verdi's La Forza del Destino, helped make this the best vocal item in the concert.

Best of all was Ponchielli's The Dance of the Hours. Here the orchestra and the conductor, Gavin Maloney, produced music-making that had natural poise, subtle forward motion and the natural spring of dance - exactly what that music needs.

MARTIN ADAMS

David Kitt

Button Factory, Dublin

David Kitt should feel lucky still to have such an ardent fan base. Given the Dubliner's journey from obscurity to borderline stardom back to hardworking journeyman, it would be understandable if his fans had thrown their hands in and folded a long time ago. But just when his audience's attention and patience is beginning to wane, Kitt always appears to have a trump card up his sleeve.

Late 2008 and here he is with a new album, due out early next year. This show was an opportunity to road-test the new material and an attempt to prove once more that the mouthwatering column inches that followed his every move at the turn of this century are as justified now as they were then.

What was aired here certainly bodes well for the record. Considering that the first song played garnered a roar of "unreal" from one enthusiastic punter, Kitt can feel quietly confident that this forthcoming album, The Nightsaver, will be to his fans' liking.

Using support band Katie Kim (a must hear new-ish act from Waterford) as his own three-piece backing band for the night, the songs, which Kitt declined to introduce by name, instantaneously teased foot-tapping and head-nodding approval from the crowd.

Who knows how different the recorded versions will be, but whether or not you put it down to the renewed enthusiasm every artist communicates when performing newer, fresher material, these compositions sounded more refined, more rounded and far more immediate than what we've heard from Kitt before.

Full of lazy sunset melodies, coupled with Kitt's trademark hushed voice and MacBook-fed beats, the songs carry hooks that may have been produced in the bedroom but firmly belong on the dancefloor.

Older songs were diligently dispatched, but it was clear that Kitt is all about the future. Robbie Kitt joined his older brother for the encore to perform as electro-rave duo Spilly Walker, whose appeal is a lot harder to understand than Kitt senior's.

No matter - what came before was more than enough to whet the appetite for the single-minded singer's upcoming musical adventures.

BRIAN KEANE