William Eddins Conducts

national | arts and media | news report

Saturday October 15, 2005 13:24

by Sean Crudden - impero

sean at impero dot iol dot ie

Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth.

087 9739945

Friday Night at The National Concert Hall

A slightly more introverted audience than usual at The National Concert Hall heard last night the latest effort in The National Symphony Orchestra’s "2005 - 2006 Season in Association with Anglo Irish Bank." However I noticed quite a few school uniforms in the foyer at the interval.

Paul Whelan, who sang the bass-baritone part in Faust et Hellene (Irish premier) by Lili Boulanger last night in the second half of the concert in the National Concert Hall, bears a facial resemblance to McMenamin who played for Liverpool and Real Madrid. Although there was nothing absolute in the set that I could compare him to I estimate that he is 2m in height and he is slim in build. He was plausible and quite ingratiating at the start and suitably evil - like Nico in the anti-smoking ad - at the end.

Bonaventure Bottone gave a well-thought-out account of the part of Faust. A small, round-featured, greying and slightly bald man he stood between Paul Whelan and the other soloist Ekaterina Gubanova (mezzo-soprano). He put great spirit into the part of the small man - gullible, enthusiastic and eventually victim. His voice is light but very athletic and stood up to the demands of the music very well.

I think Gubanova has star quality. She is neither flamboyant nor theatrical but presents a resolute calmness. Although she holds a little bit in reserve she gets "into the zone" when the music gets going. She knows how to build a line and the evidence of this is how nicely she can turn a finishing phrase (as she did last night more than once). She commands attention and communicates feeling like a human sister.

The conductor for the night was William Eddins - a small, stocky, negro man. At the start of the Haydn symphony which began the concert it was immediately evident that he has a lazy beat with a whip at the bottom - like a good golfer. However when the music was fast he went fast but kept everything articulate. The Haydn was light, clear and fruity. The interest was sustained by the rhythm and one suspects that, in other hands, the symphony might sound hackneyed and prosaic. Frankly last night it was lovely.

Before the interval the piano (without a lid?) was wheeled in and Eddins took to the keyboard and he and the orchestra got stuck into Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. To my unaccustomed ear some of the rhythms in this piece are turgid and non-progressive. However there are lovely parts for harp and for oboe in it and some piquant sounds (which I cannot exactly remember) for other instruments including, naturally, the piano. Eddins showed no awe and treated the piano like a plaything. The orchestra had plenty of snap where needed. The centre-of-gravity of this performance did not seem to me to be in the piano but somewhere at a point nearer the orchestra.

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Comments (2 of 2)

Thank you for your civilisation Sean its so like ours.

by iosaf

Sat Oct 15, 2005 14:27

españa

well we've only 6 days to witness Mr William Eddins take the baton out on both radio telefis eireann national symphony orchestra and the radio telefis eireann philarmonic chorus for the long awaited performance of Shostakovitch's 2nd symphony in B flat major Opus 14 on October 21st at the National Concert Hall complete with singing bits.

With tickets ranging from €13.50, to €25 and a limited number of concessionary seating priced from €10.80 to €22.50, there will no doubt be a less than timid audience present to hear the two movement work, first performed in the Leningrad Philharmony by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy Capella Choir under Nikolai Malko, on 5 November 1927.

The work had a reputation for obscurity with listeners in Eirinn, only being recorded by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, under soviet conductor I. Blazhkov in 1965, that AAD recording of course wasn't remastered and released to western consumers until 1993.

A wonderful and very tonal work with good melodies might prove the elders in attendance who will no doubt ponder the modern relevancy of the text of the second movement, a cantata like hymn of praise for noted catholic radical Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov Lenin.

Of course the young slightly snotty Shostakovitch hadn't migrated at that stage or heard Mahler for that matter and was still troubling the ethical implications of Jazz and the charleston dance.

Interest in Charleston is booming.

Communities the length and breadth of Eirinn are finding a new and healthy way to bring zip to the friday cross roads marriage fixing sessions.
And the youth of today have not been slow to popularise songs to suit the Charleston rhythm.
Be warned Fathers and Mothers!, some of these steps are a bit quick, best to just watch the childer as they tackle this new healthy ####### form of dance. ######## One innovative bunch of former auxillary emergency period ######## beachguards from ######### topping the national phonographic charts for two weeks running now, with their catchy version of "when will i be wed?".
(note for the daughters)
There was a higher than usual turnout for the Saturday book pulping session in #######, County ######. A great day was had with no less than 16 loose women's blasphemous efforts put in the barrels of quicklime. Now you just watch yourself.

Remember all you need to know is on
Radio Wireless Eirinn.

we're a small minded country
with a lot to offer the world
when its ready

watch yourself!

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by Sean

Sun Oct 16, 2005 16:00

I forgot to mention that Bonaventure Bottone is a tenor.

The link given with this comment is the website of The National Concert Hall - which gives details of future concerts and allows one to buy tickets online.

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William Eddins Conducts

Comments (2 of 2)