|
REVIEW:
Anúna make Christmas magic in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral
- December 2002
Anúna's Christmas concerts have become
an annual highlight of Dublin's Christmas festivities, one I had been trying to
experience for several years. Every year it seemed I was either away on business
at the wrong time or too late to acquire a ticket, but this year I was determined
I would be there! Ever since I attended their summer concert
in 2000, on my very first assignment for Celtic Café, I wanted to experience
another live performance by the unique choral group and they did not disappoint
me. December 21st was a mild night of what I would describe as 'mizzling'
rain, not heavy enough for a drizzle but enough to make sure you were quite damp
after walking along the street. It was typical Christmas weather for Dublin, and
the fine old medieval church near the river Liffey was packed with people whose
mood was palpably festive. I suspect many were annual visitors to the concert
as I could feel a sense of anticipation for the evening.
Anúna are not
a choir you can truly know without being at a live performance, for they do not
just stand on a stage and sing before you. They use much more than their voices
to convey their music, transmitting it through movement, through lighting, and
through constant change. The pieces are not offered in the same way one after
the other and you never quite know where the sound will come from next or where
the light will draw your eye. The concert is all around you and you are in the
midst of it, completely surrounded by the music. It is very visual also, and the
lighting is key -- understated drama reminiscent of a Carravaggio painting, or
a Vermeer, where the light for the scene is often generated by a single candle,
just as a hand-held candle often supplies the only light for the face of an Anúna
singer. >>> This paragraph needs to be rewritten by Annie
and inserted here. >>> Between most of the pieces Michael
McGlynn speaks to the audience and explains the background of the pieces Anúna
are performing. This is something I particularly like about their concerts. Even
if there were a programme to follow, most of us either cannot see to read it at
the time or have not the patience to keep up, and having the little titbits of
information adds greatly to the appreciation of the music. The songs chosen
for this concert covered a wide range of material; next came 'An Oíche',
a tale of a young man and woman out for a fun night in the cold of winter, followed
by a most unusual and beautiful rendering of the well-known carol 'Away in a Manger'.
Instead of the expected soprano lead, this version featured female soloist Edel
Harrington, whose voice was deep and mellow, and the soprano registers were left
to the backing chorus. Superb! Then followed the ancient 'Coventry Carol',
sweet music backing grim lyrics telling the evil tale of Herod's dastardly deed
against infant boy children, before the sixteen-strong female choir took a short
break and gave the stage to the wonderful sounds of Clodagh Haughton's harp. This
gifted musician is only sixteen years old, surely a star in the making; she filled
the church with magical rippling sounds that might have come straight from one
of our mythical legends. She did not play a straightforward melody piece but a
complex and sophisticated dramatic piece called 'Firedance' which evoked many
moods.
The male section of the choir returned to the stage after this with
an upbeat harmonied song, 'Ríu Ríu', with strong solo performance
by Simon Travers. This was followed by 'Sanctus', an unusual song paying homage
to Hildegard von Bingen, the 11th-Century composer, which uses 'overtones', sounds
produced by strange movements of the mouth and tongue. 'Sanctus' was a highly
choreographed number, Anúna at their performing best, with female solos
in different areas of the church, sounds echoing and moving while the male overtones
came from behind, with a powerful male solo from the back of the church. This
is one piece that could not be fully appreciated on CD, you have to be there!
Solos for this number were from Kim Lynch, Lynn Hilary, Monica Donlon and Paul
Byrne. One special feature of an Anúna carol concert is having the
chance to hear old Irish carols, which are not heard every day. 'Christmas Day'
added a jaunty tempo to the evening with an old Gaelic text set to music by Michael
McGlynn and a lovely solo from Joanna Fagan. This was followed by 'Codlaím
go Suan', featuring harp and voice, an angelic soprano solo from Lynn, and joined
by the violin of Aingeala de Burca as an additional 'voice', beautifully atmospheric. Aingeala
took centre-stage then, performing for us a track from the CD Behind the Closed
Eye, 'Aisling'(Dream). The haunting lament showed off Aingeala's obvious great
talent on the violin' -- it was no surprise to learn she is equally at home playing
classical, folk or rock music. 'Aisling' began with the song for violin, first
with backing by the harp and then the choir, which was very effective as it is
unusual to have the human voice as backing to musical instruments rather than
the other way around. The first half of the concert ended with a wonderful
performance of 'Silent Night', with solos by Joanna, Derina Johnson and Patrick
Hughes. With so well-known a carol it was a nice touch to use multiple solo voices
to add interest. I was amazed at this concert, as I was at the previous
one I attended, by how many numbers Anúna perform in one evening, as well
as by the range of their repertoire. It seemed to me that the content of the first
half would very likely be considered sufficient for the whole concert by many
choirs. By interval time the audience was completely captivated by the music and
descended on the CD sales area with enthusiasm, especially as we now knew this
was the only place to acquire a copy of the new Winter Songs CD in Ireland
before next year! As it contained many of the songs in this concert, everyone
wanted to take a copy home, including myself. The second half of the evening's
performance began with 'August' from Behind the Closed Eye, a piece by
poet Francis Ledwidge. Michael McGlynn led the male a cappella choir, followed
by a female chorus from far up the church away from the audience, with only candles
lighting the singers, entitled 'Maria Matrem', written by Michael from a 15th-century
text. A female soprano with male backing came from far behind at the west end
of the church for the piece 'Cormacus Scripsit', then the female chorus along
with its sound moved forward to in front of the choir screen to the 'stage' area.
The men, unlit, moved forward along the side aisles leaving only a soloist at
the back, and the sound was everywhere -- another time Anúna could only
be truly experienced live. Magic! The performance of such historic music
makes Anúna concerts particularly interesting. It also makes it all the
more incomprehensible that they do not receive any official Irish State support
or recognition as professionals for their work. Another early piece came
next, a melodic, lilting 14th-century English song with harp accompaniment entitled
'Ther is no Ros'. It was appropriate, Michael told us, that his wife Lucy would
be soloist with him for the song, as she is English. Husband and wife did indeed
create a memorable duet.
The 16th-century carol 'Ding Dong Merrily on High'
followed, but not with original lyrics, we were told, as those were somewhat naughty!
'Ding Dong' is a carol sung countless times the world over, and can be less than
melodic as it often challenges the choir's abilities. Anúna made it seem
effortless, a flow of the purest and clearest imaginable sound. One of my
favourite pieces of the evening was 'The Wexford Carol'. Hearing the Irish carols
is a special treat, and maybe that my ancestors came from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford,
draws me to this one, as its origins are in Enniscorthy. Monica Donlon, member
of Anúna for some fifteen years, gave the most superb soprano solo to this
carol. The range of the concert programme reached beyond carols even to
the secular then, as Derek O Gorman performed the solo of 'Christmas Kisses,'
and set a contrasting mood with the touch of blues rhythm written by Michael. A
16th-century piece featuring a type of singing known as 'heterophony' took the
programme swiftly back in time again. Michael told us the technique is still used
in the Western Isles. 'Jerusalem' gave us another Anúna classic, with female
singers floating through the church, harmonies layered upon harmonies even more
than in previous numbers. Soloists Emer Lang, Sinéad McGoldrick, Alice
Gildea and Orfhlaith Campbell, also moved back and forth, creating a virtual orchestra
of sounds. The next song was a 16th-century composition from the Bohemia,
'Gaudete'. Anúna's repertoire knows no boundaries in either time or space!
Simon Morgan gave a very fine and powerful solo to this song. 'Winter, Fire
and Snow' brought us back home to Irish work, if still depicting foreign places.
This song, about winter in Venice, consisted of text written by Macdara Woods
from Wicklow, with melody set by Brendan Graham. A special feature of the song
was the lovely guitar backing by Michael McGlynn's twin brother John
McGlynn, successful established solo artist in his own right. Michael and
John arranged the piece, which was released as a single by Anuna in 1994, to much
acclaim. Tonight's concert was unusual for Anúna, we were told,
in that they were more in number than normal, eleven men and sixteen ladies. Michael
told us it was an achievement that so many could perform in proper costume! He
paid tribute to the designers who have created costumes for them over the years,
and if there is anything I would have wished to have added to the evening I think
it would have been a tour through the church by the choir with full house lights
so we could admire the elegant black velvet gowns in detail. Simple in their vaguely
medieval outline, those I did see close were exquisitely made and subtly detailed. The
final pieces of the night were 'Angels are Singing' and 'O Holy Night', of course
followed by two encore numbers as the well-deserved standing ovations insisted
the evening not end. After such a long programme I was surprised they offered
more than a single encore. The first was the very spiritual 'Pie Jesu' and the
last song of the night a Yeats poem, 'Isle of Innisfree' set to music and sung
by Michael. I came away feeling a mixture of elation and exhaustion, overwhelmed
by the richness of the performance, both in quality of sound, range of programme
and the presentation. Anúna contribute a unique service to Irish musical
history, reviving ancient compositions and giving them new life, and presenting
them to audiences in a very individual way. I would now be interested to see them
perform in a theatre setting, as both concerts I have been to have been in churches,
and I would be intrigued to see how their creation of atmosphere would work in
another setting. I have no doubt they would still find a way to produce something
very special, and wherever it might be, I look forward to experiencing many more
of their concerts.
Review: Ann
Keller
Feature: Bernadette
Price
Original Web Design: Alexander
Servas
| 
