BELDING THEATER
HARTFORD, CT
OCTOBER 28, 2006
Anthony Kearns returned to my home state of CT last night, and
the concert was a resounding success. I can happily say that the
cold which has plagued him, is retreating, and Anthony was in
excellent voice. There were some residual effects of the cold,
and some lower notes sounded a bit husky, but his upper range,
with its ringing high notes, or pianissimo caresses, was gleaming.
The songlist was the same as last week, but Anthony sang with
more abandon, and looked rested, even though he's had a busy week.
He again opened with a really lovely "Sally Gardens", and it was
sweet and clear-voiced, which bode well for the rest of the evening.
As usual, the audience was quite taken with the humorous songs,
especially an "impassioned" version of "Off to Philadelphia" and the
two Kittys...."Kitty of Coleraine", and "Kitty Me Love." Anthony sang
a beautiful "Where 'ere You Walk" from Handel's Semele, and a
gorgeous "Ombra Mai Fu", from the same composer's Serse. His
"Mattinata" was glorious, and "O Sole Mio" was wonderful. His
audiences, as much as they love his Irish songs, are wild about
the Italian songs he sings. I truly believe Anthony Kearns has
the sun of Italy in his voice. But he must also have the snows
of Mother Russia in there somewhere, too. Again he sang an
exquisite "To the Children", by Rachmaninov, who had written
it for John McCormack. Anthony has the style as well as the
voice to sing Rachmaninov, and it was haunting. Yet again,
it was "A Father's Prayer" which moved many in the audience
to tears. With Anthony's lullaby-like lower voice, and his piano
high notes, it was a creation of love, both from its performer, and
its composer, Patrick Healy. Together they create a loving,
moving vignette every time they perform it. And I thank them
both for recording it, so we may have it to keep.
Patrick Healy is the perfect partner, which is, of course, just
what an accompanist should be. In the past, great accompanists
such as Edwin Schneider, who played for John McCormack,
Gerald Moore, Geoffrey Parsons, and John Wustman, of recent
note, were an extension of the singer. Together they are almost
as one. And that's the gift Patrick Healy brings to Anthony
Kearns, and to us. But unlike the aforementioned accompanists,
Patrick Healy is also an accomplished solo performer, and last
night was no exception. After leaving the audience wiping tears
of laughter from their eyes with the Tosca story, the cat story,
and the story of the understudy tenor in Carmen (which interestingly
enough, was playing in another theatre within the Bushnell at the
same time Anthony was singing), he launched once again into a
splendid version of "Modern Major General" which brought whistles,
whoops of joy, and tremendous applause.
I want to make mention of the reaction of a friend of mine, at his
first Anthony Kearns solo. After I played him Anthony's CD last
week, he announced that he'd like to attend the Hartford concert.
I was able to get him a ticket, and he was looking forward to it.
After all, he'd heard a couple of my CDs of The Irish Tenors, and
he'd just heard "The Hills of Home", and "A Father's Prayer."
He knew what to expect. WRONG. He was blown away by this
concert. He told me he thought he knew what Anthony Kearns
sounded like, from the CDs. But he did not expect the sheer
beauty and power of the voice he heard. His first words to me
after the concert, were "What a voice! What a gift!" Well,
it's true. Anthony has the voice, but we were given the gift.
By Berta Calechman
by Genevieve