A round-up of reviews from Irish Times' writers
The King and I at the Helix, Mahony Hall, Dublin
There is an understandably old-fashioned air about The King and I, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical now 56 years on from its Broadway opening.
It is based on a biographical book, Anna and the King of Siam, about an Englishwoman who became teacher to the many children of Siam's king in the mid-19th century, and the authors have been faithful to their source.
They were also, of course, blessed with the talent to build this fidelity into characters, story and an interpretative score that appeals directly to today's audiences, who hail continued revivals as proof of its entertainment value. And this production holds the line with an ensemble that brings energy and talent to its task.
It beguiles the ear as Anna and her son land in Siam, nervous and uncertain; but she has the song for the occasion. I Whistle a Happy Tune sets the scene for their adventures, and the exotic people and customs they must now live with.
She meets her pupils in the dramatic March of the Siamese Children, soon followed by a lilting Getting to Know You. She forms a relationship with their mothers too, as she tells part of her story to them in Hello, Young Lovers.
The heart of the play is her growing relationship with the king, often comic and sometimes deadly serious. Their dance-duet, Shall We Dance?, is a show-stopper. Another set-piece is The Small House of Uncle Thomas, an imaginative animation of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The show is sprinkled with top songs delivered by CJ Johnson as Anna, Joe Speare as the King, Ravy Alfonso and Riva Salazar as doomed lovers, and other fine singers. One to savour. Runs until Mon. Booking: 01-7007000. Gerry Colgan
IBO, Resurgam/Duley at St Nicholas of Myra, Dublin
Bach - St John Passion
Bach's St John Passion is an intimate work. That is why the careful scaling of this performance was so important in producing the most integrated and, in many respects, the most satisfying account of this piece that I have heard in Ireland.
In the Irish Baroque Orchestra (IBO) there were just 16 players, plus Mark Duley directing from the chamber organ. The choir Resurgam consisted of 12 singers, who stood behind the orchestra. Occasionally, solo players either stood or quietly joined a vocal soloist in front of the orchestra. All was done without fuss, and with no interference to the continuous narration.
Resurgam's singing was razor-sharp and, even at slow speeds, full of life. The instrumental playing, including the high-quality continuo work we have come to expect from the IBO, was full of character and colour. The guest leader for this concert, Maya Homburger, led as if born to this ensemble.
The soloists included Michael George as Christus, Julian Tovey as Pilatus and Petrus, soprano Lynda Lee, countertenor Owen Willetts, and tenor Sean Clayton - one of the strongest and most complementary line-ups that I have heard for some time. Even so, nobody can begrudge a special mention of tenor Robin Tritschler as the Evangelist. He was stunning, deeply inside the text, and able to use vocal technique to identify the most subtle inner meaning.
Mark Duley's direction was straightforward and minimal, letting people get on with things whenever possible. Despite the period instruments, this was a modern-style performance - precise, polished and brisk, yet not at all superficial. Sometimes I wished for a bit more linger, for time to relish a moment. But always, one could take pleasure in music-making that had the clarity and cooperativeness of chamber music. Martin Adams
Conway, Butorina-Kiva at NCH, Dublin
Soprano Carmel Conway and pianist Lina Butorina-Kiva entertained with a full evening's programme of party pieces: four songs, four operatic arias, a host of romantic character pieces, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and Mozart's Exultate jubilate.
Under the watchful eye of her music-desk mascot, a 10-inch high leprechaun, Butorina-Kiva relished the big sounds of the John Field Room's Steinway, particularly in Chopin's Prelude in D minor Op 28, No 24 and Rachmaninov's Étude tableau in E flat minor Op 39, No 5.
In gentler preludes by both composers, and in the celebrated opening movement of the sonata, accompaniments tended to be over-bright and melodies on the brittle side. Yet this Russian pianist's instinctively economical pedalling ensured that there was no blurring of the harmonies - a significant advantage in all the Chopin items and in Beethoven's toccata-like finale.
While Conway's burgeoning voice is characterised by the kind of rich, rapid vibrato that also does duty for a trill, she showed uncommon sureness in Mozart's passage work, even at uncommonly steady tempos.
Her brighter mezzo timbres were modulated with contralto shadings in Solveig's Song by Edvard Grieg and two songs by Gabriel Fauré, Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme and Après un rêve.
In the opera numbers, her higher notes were freer, although the capering ornaments of Juliet's waltz from Gounod's Romeo and Juliet would have benefited from a little less starch.
It was as two of Puccini's tragic heroines - Mimi (La Bohème) and Sister Angelica, from the one-act opera of the same name - that Conway moved into her element. Though her tone could momentarily over-ripen, there was no disguising the accomplished legato or the stalwart sustaining power. Andrew Johnstone
