It's been awhile since I heard The Irish Tenors sing, so I was looking
forward to my "double-header" last weekend, even though I knew not
to expect any new pieces. But that's why The Irish Tenors are the best!
They imbue even the most often heard songs with new life, and manage
to somehow make them sound new. Plus, having the lovely voice of
Karl Scully to blend with Messers Kearns and Wright, is an added prize,
and a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
To begin with, the men were in sumptuous voice! Each individual voice,
with its own timbre, shone on it's own, and with the other two.
The mens' solos were representatve of the best each has to offer,
and the audiences at both concerts roared their approval. Vocally,
the men were equally good on both evenings. They had more fun
and hijinks in Mass. The orchestra in Connecticut was far superior
to the poorly performing one in Mass., even though Maestro Roth didn't
even have a rehearsal with them, before Friday night's concert. But the
expertise of our favorite conductor made it barely noticeable. Despite
a few unfortunate notes at the very beginning in CT, the rest of the
concert was beautifully played. The orchestra in Mass. was not good,
to put it kindly. The entire horn section should have been shot! With
the exception of the tuba player, who did a good job in "The Teddy Bears'
Picnic," the horns started awful, and got progressively worse. Talk
about flatulent horns....! Arnie did a masterful job of getting them
through the program at all. But the opening piece, a magnificent "Mise Eire,"
set a wonderful standard for the rest of the evening, on both nights.
And the men sang so well, the shortcomings of some of the orchestra
members were not as noticeble as they could have been. Huge
thanks to Arnie Roth!
The mens' solos were terrific. Anthony's 3 solos were a beautiful
"Love Thee Dearest," an exquisite, finely shaded "Eily Mavourneen,"
which brought back fond memories of the 2002 performances of
The Irish Ring, and a spectacular "Boulevogue," which he introduced
as perhaps the national anthem of Wexford. Anyone who has ever
heard Anthony sing Boulevogue should write to the Irish Tourist Board,
and request that he be the spokesperson for visiting Wexford!
Finbar sang a wonderful "Green Isle of Erin" and with his good looks
and romantc voice, he too was a picture postcard for travel to the
Emerald Isle. His second solo was the ever popular "Little Brigid Flynn,"
and there were many woman in both audiences who would have
been more than thrilled to "throw an eye to him!" It was marvelous!
There isn't much left to say about "South of the Border" but it was
expertly done, and the audience loved it! Now.......to Karl. He has lost
3 stone (about 42 lbs), and he looks fantastic! He is quite slim, and
the weight loss has only made his voice sound better. In "Lift The
Wings" especially, his soaring voice has taken on a new power,
while still maintaining its lyrical quality. It was magnificent. So
too, was "The Water is Wide." And in "The Old Man", which most of us
have only wanted to hear John McDermott sing. Karl sang marvelously.
It was not John's or anyone else's version. It was Karl Scully's, and it
was beautiful and touching.
The trios were terrific, especially a new version of "Galway Bay."
Not one of my favorite pieces, the men did a splendid job, and made
me rethink my position. "Rose of Tralee", "Danny Boy" "Whiskey in
the Jar," "The One Road," "Go Lassie Go," and the "sing-along"
medley of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" and "Toora Loora Loora"
were great fun, and the audience loved them. The evening ended
with a sensational "God Bless America," in which Anthony unleashed
a stratospheric high note at full voice, which made the hair on
my neck stand up.
Like almost everyone else who loves The Irish Tenors, I would
have loved to hear some new pieces sung by those six beautiful
vocal cords. And maybe one day, Karl will get his own special
songs to sing, not those sung by previous occupants of the third
spot. But be that as it may, The Irish Tenors are the absolute best,
and a concert by them, even without new material, is still the
greatest and most fun around.
Berta Calechman
MGM Grand-Foxwood's Casino
Mashantucket, CT
March 13, 2009
Lynn Memorial Auditorium
Lynn, MA
March 14, 2009
