Reviews of Antony and the Johnsonsat Vicar Street, Dublin and Our Lady's Choral Society, RTÉCO/O Duinnat NCH, Dublin
Antony and the Johnsons
Vicar Street, Dublin
WREATHED in shadow on a Vicar Street stage, Antony Hegarty and his band set an enigmatic and theatrical tone completely at odds with the blistering sunshine that’s setting outside. But it’s the unpredictability and slight sense of otherness that make this such a thrilling show.
Hegarty mines a rich and varied seam of source material, and he goes some way to explaining his motivations tonight. A new track, Hope Mountain, merits a full 10-minute introduction (it's about the return of Christ, but this time as a girl). Throughout this gig, minor diversions and conversational asides only add to Hegarty's charm, and he could give lessons in dealing with hecklers, even if they are only competing in compliments – hardly a shouted comment goes unanswered by Hegarty, usually with a "pardon?" followed by a motherly "oh, sugarlumps".
But back to the music. These are astonishingly accomplished tracks played with fluidity and confidence, music that gently unfolds itself with startling precision in completely unexpected forms. The muscular drama of Epilepsy of Dancingis built on delicate, carefully worked foundations and it's a pleasure listening to tracks that ratchet up successive layers of tension and pathos without resorting to the common tools of distortion or noise. Hegarty's vocal is confidence personified, but the scale of his presence and personality is not the only source of energy here – the gospel infusions of the vocal and piano lines are leant swagger and soul by a band with groove, guts and heart. The wholly collective effort brings tracks such as Aeonand Shake That Devil,and Hegarty's enigmatic themes, to beautifully coloured, vividly drawn life.
This was a show to be savoured, equal parts music and drama, discipline and grace, anguish and hope. Laurence Mackin
Our Lady’s Choral Society, RTÉCO/Ó Duinn
NCH, Dublin
Haydn– The Creation
OUR LADY’S Choral Society is carefully ticking off the important musical anniversaries of 2009. In April, they celebrated Handel on the 250th anniversary of his death, to the day. On Sunday they celebrated Haydn on the 200th anniversary of his death, again to the day. And Mendelssohn, who was born in February 1809, will get his turn on June 19th.
For Haydn, the choir made the most obvious choice, performing the late oratorio The Creation, a work that came out of Haydn's extraordinarily profitable relationship with the London promoter Salomon, and his association with the Handel-obsessed nobleman, Baron van Swieten, who also pressed Handel-related projects on Mozart.
Conductor Proinnsías Ó Duinn's approach to The Creationwas what you might call amiably low-key. This was a Creationin which the music was, as it were, left to itself, and even the opening representation of Chaos, one of the most remarkable achievements of 18th-century music, sounded a little on the bland side from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Our Lady’s Choral Society were in fine, fresh-voiced form, and the three vocal soloists were all capable and communicative. Soprano Cara O’Sullivan sometimes pressed for effects that were more than a shade too dramatic, but otherwise sang with easy fluency.
Tenor Ross Scanlon sang with a commanding lightness and clarity (he's the most promising young Irish tenor I've heard in years), and bass Ian Caddy sang with his familiar authority and with his upper range now showing an almost tenorish quality. All that was lacking was an overall musical vision that might have focused the performance as a whole with the sharpness that was to be found in the best of its elements. Michael Dervan
