KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

The Celtic Tenors brought their Irish brogue sound to the Lied Center on Saturday night in a “Songs of the Season” concert. As one of the numerous tenor trio groups that have developed in the last several years, Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson, and Daryl Simpson have been singing together as the Celtic Tenors for eleven years. Along with musical director and pianist Colm Rogan, they offer an unusual repertoire of classical and pop, traditional and modern, as well as a free and easy style of performance not always seen in traditional operatic solo performers.

The evening’s fare was an interesting mix of genres. There were several traditional Irish tunes like “Finnegan’s Wake” and “Red-Haired Mary,” all delivered in rollicking good humor. 

They excelled, however, in fantastic, stacked, three-part harmonies in arrangements of some pop tunes like Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home to Me,” and in traditional favorites like “The Holy City.” They also gave an aurally thrilling version of Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times,” one of several songs from their CD of North American music.

They are very charismatic performers, who interact easily with the audience. At various times during the performance, one or more singers would come down into the audience. One particularly memorable interaction came during a hilarious rendition of “Lay Down Sally” (yes, the Eric Clapton hit), when James Nelson staggered down into the house and into the lap of a woman in one of the front rows. 

There were some serious moments, of course, and these contained some of the most beautiful singing of the night. The first half ended with Phil Coulter’s “Remember Me, Recuerdame,” a song becoming a signature Celtic Tenors piece, that features their individual solo voices as well as in some impressive harmony.

The requisite “Nessun Dorma” closed the main concert. It was one of their least successful numbers of the evening—in part because they acknowledged the audience’s expectation of this number by allowing audience participation. It is rather hard to imagine the aria as a sing-a-long, and it really doesn’t work as such; however, it was a crowd pleaser.

The Celtic Tenors' voices are quite distinctive: Simpson has a high, sweet tenor that is buttery smooth on a phrase. Gilsenan is also a high tenor with a flexible rich sound. Nelson’s is the closest to the heroic tenor model, and adds the weight and grounding to their harmonic blend. They have a remarkable and well-honed mix that one can discern even through the mechanical manipulations of sound systems.

Undoubtedly, classical purists scoff at the nature of a Celtic Tenors concert. The concert is heavily mixed, and the repertoire is generally more pop and folk than classical. Very little on the program requires the audience to work hard; however, these singers are a joy to watch, and there is sheer pleasure in hearing that unique Irish tenor times three in rich, generous waves of sound.

The most enthusiastic response of the night came to the Tenors’ only acoustic performance with the perennial favorite “Danny Boy.” It was a skilled, honest, emotionally nuanced performance that shows that these are musicians with a serious commitment to the integrity of everything they sing.  

REVIEW:
Lied Center of Kansas
The Celtic Tenors: Songs of the Season
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Lied Center, KU Campus
1600 Stewart Dr, Lawrence, KS
For more information, visit www.lied.ku.edu.

Top Photo: Celtic Tenors (Photo by Barry McCall)

By Sarah Young

Classical and Musical Theatre Contributor

Sarah Young is a freelance writer and performer in opera, theatre, choral and musical theatre. She has been seen locally with Wichita Grand Opera, Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Kansas City Civic Opera, Lawrence Community Theatre, Chestnut Fine Arts Center and in other local venues.  She studied voice at the University of Kansas, and has been trained in artist programs at Indiana University, Aspen Opera Theatre and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

More Featured Articles