Irish Times critics review the baritone Holzmair at the Helix and Iñaki Alberdi at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre in Dublin.
Holzmair, ICO/McGegan
Mahony Hall, The Helix
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Telemann - Suite in G minor.
Bach - Ich habe genug.
Bartók - Divertimento.
Bach - Suite No 1.
At first glance Wolfgang Holzmair would seem a slightly odd choice for Bach's Cantata No. 82, Ich habe genug. He's a baritone with more ability to masquerade as tenor than bass, and the range of this cantata for low voice has to pose exceptional challenges for his bottom notes.
Holzmair, however, is a singer who also seems to be a musician to his very core - something that's not to be taken for granted with exceptional voices - and his interpretative approach to Bach's contemplation of death as a welcome release, with its famous lullaby Schlummert ein and joyous aria in upbeat anticipation of that release Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod, was at all times sensitively modulated.
Nicholas McGegan, his partner with the Irish Chamber Orchestra at The Helix on Thursday, contoured the orchestral playing deftly, though even playing as light as he achieved still masked Holzmair where his voice was weakest. There were some surprising failures of pitching from the singer, but the overall effect was still a musically rewarding one.
McGegan and his players now regularly provide the best platform for baroque repertoire open to Irish audiences these days. The conductor's delight in avoiding commonplace responses to the suites by Telemann and Bach was palpable. And the resourceful colouring and gestural immediacy he brought to Bartók's Divertimento for strings were a consistent delight.
In terms of tightness of ensemble and tidiness of intonation, however, this concert showed the orchestra at less than peak performance, even to the point of rough starts and the occasional straggler in the violins. It would be a shame if the enviable standards the orchestra has set in recent years were to be allowed to lapse, especially given the fact that the strength of McGegan's musical approach has been suggesting that even higher vistas are actually within reach.
Michael Dervan
Iñaki Alberdi (accordion)
Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin
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Sofia Martínez - Liuva
Zuriñe F Gerenabarrena - Izpi
Aureliano Cattaneo - Souvenir d'egotisme IV
Ramon Lazkano - Aztarnak
Kevin Mayo - Night Stories
The accordion has seen a remarkable change of fortune. Within the last 15 years or so it has attracted the attention of an increasing number of composers working outside its former realms of traditional and popular music.
Countries associated with this rise of interest tend to be those in which the instrument has a long history of involvement in folk music; and one such country is Spain. That was evident in the final concert of the current Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern series, given by the Basque musician Iñaki Alberdi.
It seemed that several of the composers - three from Spain and one each from Scotland and Italy, had been seduced by the accordion's distinctive possibilities. For example, Zuriñe F Gerenabarrena's Izpi (2001) and Aureliano Cattaneo's Souvenir d'egotisme IV (2002) appeared to be driven more by the exploration of expressive devices than by tight control of musical ideas.
The strongest works were those which struck a balance in the projection of device and idea. Kevin Mayo says his Night Stories is "more nightmarish than dreamy". In this, its first performance, it came across like that. Its harmonic and melodic language is conservative; nevertheless, because everything is controlled, it achieves its unsettling purpose.
One of the most striking works was Sofia Martínez's Liuvia (1998). Like most of the programme, it was designed as evocation, in this case a line from Lorca describing rain. Unlike most, it is economical and tightly written. Ramon Lazkano's Aztarnak (2000) achieves a rare feat for a competition test-piece: it is astonishingly flamboyant, yet packed with gripping ideas.
Much of the music on this programme was written for Iñaki Alberdi. He is an extraordinarily persuasive performer, whose mild manner gives no hint of the fiery energy that comes from his instrument.
Martin Adams
