Reviews

Classical: Defence Forces Massed Bands

Lovers of military band music have complained that the annual concerts given by the Massed Bands of the Defence Forces have not had enough marches.

The capacity audience at this concert had no reason to complain. The conductor, Capt Brian Prendergast, programmed five marches and finished the concert with the traditional encores of the Radetzky and Old Comrades marches. We expected, and got, very good tone, balance, atmosphere, and precision. Also, Capt Prendergast skilfully drew attention to the inner counter-melodies, enhancing our pleasure.

Equally crowd-pleasing were the pipes and drums, the players showing great skill in changing metres and tempos. And, of course, Mary Hegarty has lost none of her ability to woo an audience. I was particularly impressed by her seductive rendering of Delibes’s ‘The Maids of Cadiz’— but disturbed that the amplification distorted her lovely upper register.

I was not impressed by Dan Godfrey’s wind-band arrangement of Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture’, nor by the balance in the first verse of Percy Grainger’s magical arrangement of ‘An Irish Tune from County Derry’.

There was no genuinely quiet playing in the Mendelssohn, and the cornet descant in verse one of ‘Danny Boy’ was not perfectly tuned — and was too loud.

In contrast, we heard wonderful tonal and dynamic contrasts in Respighi’s ‘Pine Trees of the Appian Way’, really exciting, crisp playing in Bocock’s arrangement of music from ‘Mission Impossible’, and a very well-judged crescendo to the climax of Grainger’s ‘Derry Air’.

Some highlights of the evening were the cor anglais and bassoon playing in the Respighi, the piccolo obligato in the ‘Century of Progress’ march, the superb atmosphere created in Trevor Sharpe’s ‘The Late Twenties’ selection of music by Gershwin, Kern, Berlin etc and, especially, Sgt Roy Doherty’s brilliance — ably supported by drummer, BM Tomas Gall — in Artie Shaw’s clever ‘Clarinet Concerto,’ a performance that epitomised the high standards of musicianship among the members of our Defence Forces bands.

Theatre: If I Were You

Cork Arts Theatre

Review by Colette Sheridan

Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy If I Were You is a parable with a simple message. Before the wisdom gained by the husband and wife pair is arrived at, the first act establishes that Mal, a furniture salesman, is an inconsiderate philanderer who takes his wife for granted. Meanwhile, Jill, the put -upon housewife, is her son, Sam’s ally, when he announces he wants to act in a Shakespeare play at school.

Mal is horrified, believing that theatre is full of gay men in tights. Clichés abound. Men are boors; women are long-suffering victims of men. The couple’s daughter, Chrissie, is married to the obnoxious Dean. There are hints that Chrissie is suffering domestic violence.

Just when you wonder where this play is going, a peculiar dramatic conceit is introduced in the second act. The couple wakes up one morning to find themselves inhabiting each other’s bodies. Mal has become Jill and she has become Mal. They are traumatised. But for the sake of trying to carry on as normal, they agree to act as if nothing has happened.

So, you have Mal playing at being a very solicitous and considerate man while Jill tries to pull off her act as wife and mother, albeit coming across as gruff and masculine. There are plenty of laughs to be had at the personality changes — it’s a comedic device which serves as a meditation on the gap between men and women.

Performances are strong. Kieran O’Leary as Mal is particularly convincing as a loud and rude man, treating people appallingly. He is hilarious as Jill trying to play at being Mal for the sake of appearances. Eoghan Collins as Dean is a ball of fury.

This is an overly busy play with the set doubling up as a furniture store and a home. There are endless entrance and exits — and countless misunderstandings.

Star Rating: 3/5