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.