National Concert Hall, Dublin

Mass In C-Beethoven

Choral Fantasia - Beethoven

Piano Concerto No 5 (Emperor) - Beethoven

If Beethoven had used the music of his Mass In C as a setting for a hymn to freedom or liberty, it would have carried a great deal more conviction and made life easier for the soloists. Only the contralto Paula Murrihy, especially in the Qui Tollis section of the Gloria, conveyed a sense of the kingdom that is not of this world, both in her clear articulation of the words and in her slightly plangent tone.

The soprano Miriam Murphy was, like the composer, content to allow the music precedence over the liturgical sublimity and neglect the words in favour of vocalisation. The tenor Emmanuel Lawler and the bass Jeffrey Ledwidge were more respectful of the text but a bit too down to earth.

The Galway Baroque Singers delivered a spirited performance with good firm tone, responding warmly to the Beethovenian idiom. The choir was even happier in its contribution to the Choral Fantasia, singing the praise not of God but of the "gifts of beautiful art".

The Choral Fantasia is principally a showpiece for piano, but ╙ Duinn and the orchestra so aided and abetted Hugh Tinney, the soloist, that there was a distinct sense of friendly collaboration to one end. This was also the case in Piano Concerto No 5: the steely glitter of the piano playing seemed to be the warp through which the other instruments wove their initiations and imitations, making a colourful tapestry that was more uplifting in its expansiveness and vivacity than the Mass In C.