Summer Evening Concert

national | arts and media | news report Saturday June 14, 2008 15:43 by Sean Crudden - impero sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth. 087 9739945

Irish Premiére

The National Concert Hall was a hive of activity yesterday evening long before the symphony concert began at 8.00 p.m. Lyric FM were ensconced in the foyer with some kind of panel connected with a composers' congress which had been taking place in Dublin. I did not get involved in listening because I was in an upstairs room with a few dozen other punters listening to the pre-concert talk.

Composer Gerald Barry created a great centre of attention at the talk and around the foyer afterwards and later he took a bow on stage at the end of the Irish premiére concert performance of his opera, La Plus Forte, 2006. A very interesting and talented man who has already achieved a lot he may go on to produce even greater work. He was born, according to the program, in 1952.

Program

Messiaen Les Offrandes Oubliées 11’

Gerald Barry La Plus Forte (Irish premire) 20’

Interval (15’)

Beethoven Symphony No 4 in B flat major 34’

Claudia Barainsky (soprano)
André de Ridder (conductor)

"Thanks for your text! How are you?" James Rickard made a fuss of me yesterday as we almost collided in the door as I was going in to the toilet situated on the ground floor of The National Concert Hall. "I’m alright," I replied a little anxiously, "I’m just trying to get from A to B."

In fact everything went well for me yesterday from Jenkinstown to my sister’s house in Stamullen (she gave me a mug of tea and some brown bread topped with tuna and mayonnaise) and on to Hume Street where I parked my black 2007 Toyota Yaris Strata. Walking on I reached the concert hall at 6.25 p.m. just in the nick of time to go to the toilet.

No problem getting my ticket - which I had pre-booked on the internet - out of one of the ticket machines in the foyer and then at 6.45 p.m. I attended a relaxed and illuminating pre-concert talk/interview given by Gerald Barry, composer, and André de Ridder, conductor, in an upstairs room - I think they call it the Field room?

I did not need to eat so I had a Fruice - some of which I managed to spill on my hands, my programme and on my brown check coat which I had unwisely placed on my lap as I opened the bottle.

The first half of the concert demonstrated that the conductor and the orchestra were well able to capture the elements of character and drama in that part of the program.

The singer, Claudia Barainsky, wore a dark green velvet gown - off the shoulder and supported by two narrow black straps. Closely fitting sleeves from elbow to biceps formed an important part of the ensemble. She presented an athletic, slightly muscular, yet very feminine appearance. Her performance was chatty and engaging. She has confidence by the bucket load and she gave me the strong impression at one point in the performance that she can be a very good friend - obviously to her silent protagonist in the performance - or to anyone else. So a work that could easily be irritating and off-putting was, in the event, quite absorbing. The rip and tear of the dark chords from the orchestra helped, too, by way of contrast.

Kevin Lynch and I played quite a lot of golf together in Greenore and when Kevin wanted to describe a football team which had played well he would say, "They played like a German band!" That phrase came to mind last night in the second half of the concert and most of the patrons I encountered on the way out of the concert hall were leaving with a smile on their faces. So Gerald Barry who told us in his pre-concert talk of his great admiration for Beethoven is not the only one.

De Ridder presents a very open, diffident, almost dowdy appearance at first glance. For some unknown reason I recalled seeing Hierro play in the Bernabeau stadium some years ago (a good few years ago now). To me he appeared to be the outstanding player on that great team of "Galacticos" who wore the white of Real Madrid at the time. It was not just because of his lofty stature but rather for his ability to unpick knots in defence and, without any outlay of aggression, resolve brewing difficulty, tidy up, reassure. De Ridder has the same quiet ability to see the right thing to do and I think the success of last night’s concert - and in my book it was a big success - was mainly down to him. In my opinion he is a great conductor and he is young whereas Hierro, when I saw him, was at the very end of his tenure and giving, almost, his swan-song.