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Bel Canto success at Celtic Connections
Review of Bel Canto, Friday 15 January 2010, St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections - by Babs Nicgriogair
Dh’fhosgail tè a beul is shluig i eun/a girl opened her mouth and swallowed a bird
An evening unfolds under the wing of a striking painting. A girl, her open mouth, her luscious lips, and a bird heaven-bent on entry. An operatic amuse-gueule. And suddenly it’s duck and cover, as the normally sedate St Andrew’s in the Square is stormed by blacked-up gun-toting guerillas setting off security alarms galore. A captive audience!
Bel Canto, a pioneering new work by gaelic singer/composer Eilidh Mackenzie effortlessly embraces both a classical and an international dimension. Flirtatious by turns yet powerfully erotic, this fledgling song cycle, inspired by Ann Patchett’s best-selling novel, revolves around a presidential palace, an opera singer, a group of terrorists and their hostages. The story explores the redemptive power of music: its ability to stimulate compassion and connection, moving beyond semantics to the soul and ultimately self-discovery.
‘Rightfully the world should be a whirlpool of kissing into which we sank…this was the thing he had missed in all the translation of language.’
The political becomes personal. Mackenzie’s composition ably interprets this, sliding seamlessly between spoken word, song, and instrumentals, mixing up musical genres and paving the way for a joyful, confident collaboration. Her own bright vocals are underpinned by the gritty tones of Michael Marra with added texture from Seumas Greumach and Anna Meldrum, all supported by a constellation of talented musicians. Winsome melodies (‘S mise gam tholadh, cesar’s tree, here we go again) are counter-balanced by the melancholy poignancy of Suidh san Oisean, the visceral Cait an robh thu ghealtaire ghalld? and Rèidhphort, dedicated to her uncle from Lochinver. Ostensibly about a house but maybe more. A space where magic happens. A fissure in our hardened identities which allows the human to break through…
Le cead ‘s mi cireadh
A’ coisreagadh na creig
A’ dualach teann ar gàir
A’ coisreagadh na creig,
Seòmraichean a’ fàs nas lugha
Is gliocas gleusta fas nas motha
‘S na h-òrain, sgàth an taighe
Air ais ‘s an t-saoghal
Is ann an gaol.
Allow me to comb your hair
Consecrating rock
To braid tightly our laughter
Consecrating rock
Rooms growing smaller
And tuned wisdom growing larger
In the songs, the shelter of the house
Back in love with the world
Earthed in the gaidhealtachd, and interwoven with the warp and weft of family Eilidh Mackenzie’s Bel Canto truly gives gaelic song new wings. The girl has swallowed the bird and taken flight.
Bel Canto success at Celtic Connections
Review of Bel Canto, Friday 15 January 2010, St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections - by Babs Nicgriogair
Dh’fhosgail tè a beul is shluig i eun/a girl opened her mouth and swallowed a bird
An evening unfolds under the wing of a striking painting. A girl, her open mouth, her luscious lips, and a bird heaven-bent on entry. An operatic amuse-gueule. And suddenly it’s duck and cover, as the normally sedate St Andrew’s in the Square is stormed by blacked-up gun-toting guerillas setting off security alarms galore. A captive audience!
Bel Canto, a pioneering new work by gaelic singer/composer Eilidh Mackenzie effortlessly embraces both a classical and an international dimension. Flirtatious by turns yet powerfully erotic, this fledgling song cycle, inspired by Ann Patchett’s best-selling novel, revolves around a presidential palace, an opera singer, a group of terrorists and their hostages. The story explores the redemptive power of music: its ability to stimulate compassion and connection, moving beyond semantics to the soul and ultimately self-discovery.
‘Rightfully the world should be a whirlpool of kissing into which we sank…this was the thing he had missed in all the translation of language.’
The political becomes personal. Mackenzie’s composition ably interprets this, sliding seamlessly between spoken word, song, and instrumentals, mixing up musical genres and paving the way for a joyful, confident collaboration. Her own bright vocals are underpinned by the gritty tones of Michael Marra with added texture from Seumas Greumach and Anna Meldrum, all supported by a constellation of talented musicians. Winsome melodies (‘S mise gam tholadh, cesar’s tree, here we go again) are counter-balanced by the melancholy poignancy of Suidh san Oisean, the visceral Cait an robh thu ghealtaire ghalld? and Rèidhphort, dedicated to her uncle from Lochinver. Ostensibly about a house but maybe more. A space where magic happens. A fissure in our hardened identities which allows the human to break through…
Le cead ‘s mi cireadh
A’ coisreagadh na creig
A’ dualach teann ar gàir
A’ coisreagadh na creig,
Seòmraichean a’ fàs nas lugha
Is gliocas gleusta fas nas motha
‘S na h-òrain, sgàth an taighe
Air ais ‘s an t-saoghal
Is ann an gaol.
Allow me to comb your hair
Consecrating rock
To braid tightly our laughter
Consecrating rock
Rooms growing smaller
And tuned wisdom growing larger
In the songs, the shelter of the house
Back in love with the world
Earthed in the gaidhealtachd, and interwoven with the warp and weft of family Eilidh Mackenzie’s Bel Canto truly gives gaelic song new wings. The girl has swallowed the bird and taken flight.