Bill Whelan is the Limerick-born composer of Riverdance, which, in conjunction with some avant-garde Irish dancing, became the memorable interval act for the last Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Ireland, in 1994. Well, you know, we might not have won it since (which is why we haven't hosted it since, either), and that year was the third time in a row we'd hosted it, so it nearly bankrupted us. But you have to admit its legacy, in the form of a blockbuster show, but also in the sea-change in international (and indeed Irish) opinion of Irish dancing. It sexed it up. Nobody had ever thought of Irish dancing like that before. It was new, it was exciting, and this was the music that drove it.
Anyway, Limerick being this year's City of Culture, they decided to hold a gala celebration of Bill Whelan's work, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra, with James Galway on flute, in the University Concert Hall, Limerick. Given that it concided with a weekend I was back, it was the thing to go to, so we set about booking tickets. Not that easy, mind - not if, like my mother, you favour Row P - the one with the aisle in front of it and the rail to leave your coat on. Unfortunately, there was only one seat left there, right at the edge! We could have got seats together further back, but finally decided just to get that end seat for her, and the one behind it for me.
So, that was on this weekend. As usual for this venue, we decided to eat in the bar in the Castletroy Park Hotel, across the road from the university, beforehand. To be honest, it's not the most terrific, but it is convenient. There's a Chinese just across from it, but she doesn't eat Chinese anymore. And there is a new restaurant on campus, but there are a lot of steps up to it, which she doesn't fancy. So, the hotel it was again, then.
There was a wedding in the hotel that day - we were lucky to get a table, as they hadn't gone in for the meal yet. I must say, they were a fashionable bunch, and we enjoyed people-watching while we waited for our food. We had the same as usual. I started with mushroom soup, which was really very good - very rich though, and maybe not the thing for the unusually warm weather! For mains, I had crispy chicken, she had fish. Both had a breadcrumb coating, both coatings were burnt. Otherwise, the meal was ok. Service was very efficient. We were fed - we've just had better, especially for the price.
We decided to skip dessert, now that they sell ice cream at the concert hall, and given that that was all we wanted anyway. We arrived good and early, got a good parking space, and installed ourselves at Cafe Allegro, to the side of the concert hall, which wasn't open yet. My mother gleefully plonked herself in a prime position on one of the sofas overlooking the entrance - they're comfier than the tables, and it's a good vantage point to survey the other audience members as they arrive. And my, did we have fun! The show had sold out, and it seems that the boutiques of Limerick were raided for the occasion. They do like to dress up, Limerick ladies, and several stunning outfits were in evidence. Unfortunately, the stall selling programmes and ice creams took forever to open, so we were waiting quite a while for both!
Despite repeated, slightly frantic announcements, begging us to take our seats by 7.55 - with the live broadcast, timings had to be adhered to - the crowd, predictably, was in no major hurry. Neither were we - we figured, with seats at the end of the row, we would do well to wait until most people were seated, so we wouldn't have to keep getting up to let people in. We timed it pretty well, and most people were seated by the time the show started - some latecomers were seated after the first number, some others - two couples - couldn't take their seats when they arrived, and spent quite a long time standing near us, watching the show from the side stairs. My mother, by the way, was very chuffed with her seat, cosily tucked in the corner, and wiith no door directly behind her to create a draught.
The show - main part at least - consisted of four Bill Whelan compositions. The first, An Cistin (The Kitchen) - part of the Connemara Suite - was designed for interplay among violin, orchestra, and feet. So, in front of the orchestra, a raised platform was placed, upon which a male dancer entertained us mightily. This was followed by the orchestral arrangement of Riverdance itself - and you do forget what a dramatic piece it is. It's easier to remember the first part - a haunting, delicate melody - but I never seem to remember just how powerful a crescendo the piece reaches at the end. All that was missing was the troupe of dancers that you always associate with this piece. And by the time they finished, and we were into the interval, the audience was relieved to release their pent-up glee by leaping collectively to their feet in a hearty standing ovation.
After the interval, we had more of the Connemara Suite - Inishlacken, named for an island off the Connemara coast, which features an interplay between two violins. And then James Galway finally appeared, for a specially commisioned piece called Linen and Lace. A reference to both his and Bill Whelan's native cities - Limerick, famous for its lace, and Belfast, famous for its linen - Bill Whelan composed it at the request of James Galway, who wanted an orchestral piece for flute. So, the piece interweaves musical nods to both cities - more militaristic for Belfast, with the percussion featuring strongly: more flowing for Limerick, with the flute weaving a melody over the orchestra, and the sound of the trotting horses for which Limerick is also famous. And then, (most of) the audience got a shock when the section sitting in the choir seats, behind the orchestra, rose to their feet near the end of the number, true to the name of their section, to burst into song. A terrific concert, in all.
Honestly, we're not huge fans of James Galway, and we left before the encores. But you know, the handy thing was, of course, that it was broadcast live on the radio, so we could listen to the last pieces in the car on the way home, and still beat the crowds! ..and then it was too late to blog, and I had to be up early next day, and by the time I had to leave for the airport, I still hadn't had time to do more than start this post. And then I ran out of time last night as well - hence the lateness of the update! But hey, I got it in before I went to anything else, eh?
Speaking of which, I was looking at going to Skylight tonight, where Bill Nighy plays Carey Mulligan's ex-lover, who shows up one night in her apartment. But of course, with such big names appearing on stage, and me just looking today - was I going to be successful? Well, I could have got a standing ticket at the very top of the house... NO THANKS! Instead, I decided to look at films, and it turned out, when I checked my list for availability for today, that fully 44 films at the top of the list are not showing today - or not at a time I can manage. So that, finally, led me all the way down to Belle, and I'm delighted about that. The trailer looks gorgeous - a costume drama, it's set in England in the 1700s, where the lord and lady of the manor - Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson - get a shock when their nephew appears with his mixed-race daughter (Belle), asking them to take care of her - he's a naval officer, and I guess he has to get back to sea. They come to love her, and raise her alongside their own daughter, but as the girls grow up, the differences in their status become apparent. Belle's cousin seeks a wealthy suitor - Belle is considered unfit to even eat with her family in company, let alone seek a suitor like her cousin's. However, she is of too high status to marry just any poor man. Enter a penniless lawyer, crusading for an end to slavery.. Ooh, it is nice to have a film like this rated highly for a change - you get tired of documentaries!
No comments:
Post a Comment