Customer Reviews

25th Anniversary Celebration (with the R.T.E Concert Orchestra)

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For those familiar with Altan, either from live performances or previous recordings, this new CD will come as a surprise and, if you are at all like me, a big disappointment. I heard the first concert of Altan's current (March 2010) American tour. In live performance it is the same band so many have come to love. Of course they were pushing this new CD, and many of us bought it then and there. I was one. In their banter during the concert, there were references to the "orchestra" on the new CD. That did not sound good to me. And now that I have heard the CD, I can say that it ruins the CD for me. The tracks start out like the good old Altan, but before long the orchestra enters and from that point on it is downhill. The actual performances by the members of Altan, both singing and playing, are the same as you would expect from everything in their past. But the total effect is completely different with the orchestra. I am groping for the right characterization. For now I will call it the "Celtic Womanization" of Altan. I don't know why they have done this, but my best guess is: money. Altan is big in the traditional Celtic music scene. But "Celtic Woman" is so much bigger in the broader Irish music scene. So why not try a CD with crossover appeal? It just might sell well, but it is bound to disappoint many of Altan's old fans. As long as the band continues to perform live in their old way, I will continue to go to their concerts. But I know I can no longer buy a new CD without hearing it first, because I don't want to listen to this one again, and I won't buy another one like it. For some, Altan can do no wrong. Or because they like the band so much, some will give them a pass on this one. But I think their future is better served by letting the band know this is not the direction their fans want them to go in.

And David Brophy isn't exactly Gil Evans. I am always concerned when non-classical artists opt for the full orchestra treatment. Occasionally, as with Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" or "Porgy and Bess", all the dials are reset and new ground is broken in the home discipline (in Miles' case, jazz). Those works radically changed perceptions of how an improvising soloist of considerable strength could interact with a more structured ensemble and both play to their strengths. The soundtrack for "Mise Eire" is an extraordinary example of an orchestra taking on traditional vernacular and evoking a strong sense of place, environment, dialect, culture. In each of these examples, it took a director who was keenly focused on what could not be compromised by either discipline for the project to work. Liam O Flynn has effected very arresting takes on the tradition with orchestral accompaniement, but even he doesn't like every one of those efforts. Back when we presented him for Project H.O.M.E., he said at lunch that by and large those records were noble failures inspite of the efforts he and Shaun Davey put into them.

More often than not, this kind of cultural success doesn't happen, and you end up with movie music, bad pops orchestral muzak, failed experiments, or bloated efforts that do no service to anyone. The examples are endless. Micheal O Suillebhain gave it as brilliant a try as anyone and had the advantage of being the composer. Still, by the second and definitely on the third disc, the music was dull. While not as soporific as a Phil Coulter Tranquility record, the music swung and missed at its goals of advancing a traditional classical form. Harp players are particularly given to a stilted expression of O Carolan that drives me, for one, absolutely crazy. They seem to be coming from that same sense of self importance as Elvis Costello (remember the Juliet Letters?) and thus suck the very life out of O Carolan's genius. I recall sitting in the Park Hotel Kenmare and at the fourth go `round of "Down By The Sally Gardens" I finally understood the Pogues. I kept thinking that were Turlough alive he'd no doubt run a darning needle through his eardrums.

Regrettably, this is not Altan's shining moment. On the one hand, I am happy to see that they are still a going concern. But I've listened to this disc a half dozen times and with each pass, I don't get why they did it. Where they genuinely stuck for an idea? Altan is, like Miles' great quintets of the 50's and 60's, a scary beast, not to be trifled with, in a live setting. Their studio efforts are at their best when they approach the drive and dynamics of their live shows. Dragging the RTE orchestra along with them plays to none of their strengths. For my money, there is no better rhythmic engine than Ciaran Curran. Pair him with either Mark Kelly, or especially Daithi Sproule, and Ciaran delivers a rhythmic punch matched only by Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny. Dermot Byrne's concertina and accordion work is a thing of subtle grace as well as dexterity. Byrne has done an admirable job filling in a musical slot left open with the passing of Frankie Kennedy and is a prolific composer in the tradition. Ciaran Tourish and Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh are the two most dynamic fiddle players in Irish music today and their place among the greats of the driving Donegal tradition is assured. Among the signature strengths of Altan is the dialectical interplay engaged by these two. Top all this off with that voice...... No one, absolutely no one in any discipline, sings with the emotional and spiritual authority of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. What you hear in her tone comes from the soul.

Collectively they get washed out to sea by the orchestra. I don't know whether Brophy hadn't a clue where to take the orchestra with Altan's music (Evans knew exactly what he was after and had to convince Miles that it was something Miles didn't even know he wanted), or whether for him, Brophy, it was just a reverential pops outing, but RTE, whatever its other merits might be, slows down the drive, flattens the dynamics, and smothers the subtleties that are Altan's stock in trade. It's not that it's a bad album, if you like this sort of thing, and maybe it's just aimed at an aging audience that wonders what happened to the Chieftains, but I know a thing or two about Donegal music, and this aint it. And sadly, it could be anybody playing with the orchestra. And that's criminal.

Joni Mitchell did an orchestral reading of her hits for which she got critically raked. It was not that it was a bad orchestra, or that she sang poorly, but the songs themselves had such an iconic place in people's hearts and souls that the orchestral reading missed the mark. Mitchell got pissed at the reaction, but the truth is, it really isn't her shining moment. And for a woman who blazed an extraordinarily creative trail, it seemed an odd indulgence or retreat. 25 years into a career, and while I can understand the interest in taking a fresh look at one's canon, this Altan CD misses the mark as well. I would have thought that among the 5 or 6 of them, depending on who is in the studio, that there would have been enough drive and creativity to recast some of the material in different settings, combinations, whatever. Had they really sought an orchestral reconsideration, they might have been better served by an orchestra or, better, a chamber group with an edge not unlike their own. It's a dangerous thing looking back. Satchel Paige served notice to everyone. Miles resisted until the last year of his life. For Mitchell, the disappointment brought her career to what has been a very long hiatus (unless the Olympics performance augurs a return).

It's been a while since Altan stepped into the spotlight. I am going to see them in Bethlehem on March 13 and I am relieved to see that they are not dragging the RTE along. No one is looking for a Celtic version of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer. I'm hoping that the orchestra isn't even on a loop of tape. If inspiration were at issue, Altan has an incredible back catalogue of brilliant shows, and it remains a mystery to me why they don't release a box set of live shows, or offer for download any of the performances in their career that really did change the music's direction and vitality. My own discs from the shows we did are favourites, but I have seen them live in so many settings that, warts and all, that is the genuine Altan, the pure drop. What happened on any given night was a thing of wonder, and things of wonder are nearly impossible to effect with an orchestra playing as background. If I were you, I'd pick up Mairead's solo record, IMEALL. It is compelling, beautiful, passionate and dynamic. Dedicated to Frankie, in honour as well to her brother and father, this is coming from a very intensely sacred well. Whether Altan still has access to that well we'll all find out in time. They deserve better than what they've done to themselves here. They are a better band than this. No one is looking for Altan Lite. And it pains me to write this. I just never thought......

Altan
"25th Anniversary Concert"
(Compass Records, 2010)
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One of the great Irish trad bands of the last thirty years, Altan is a showcase for fiddler-vocalist Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, who took the craggy, rough-hewn fiddling style of Donegal to an international stage. Here the band celebrates their twenty-fifth year(!) with a new album, the core band bolstered by the RTE Concert Orchestra, led by David Brophy. Predictably, the classical-pop orchestrations may not be to the liking of many fans, particularly trad purists, but as with many long-lived, trad-oriented ensembles, I'm sure Altan feel the need to try something new from time to time. Actually, I don't find the added orchestrations all that intrusive -- mostly they just add emphasis to the traditional Celtic motifs, building on Altan's music, rather than distracting from it. The rich, traditional core of their music remains, and Mairead's voice is still absolutely gorgeous; both the instrumental and vocal tracks are quite lovely.

Perhaps you can take the harsher reviews of this album with a grain of salt -- if you're new to Altan, this album is certainly worth a try and if you like what you hear, there are many, many earlier albums that may be even more rewarding. Older fans may be pleasantly surprised as well, particularly those who are willing to hang with a little bit of flowery ornamentation on top of a solid Celtic sound. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Guide To World Music)

Yes, this record is a sorry bid for a larger audience and dear misguided Altan have vulgarized their sound with insipid strings and dreary orchestrations. When they played Sound Stage in New York in March, one of the fiddlers mocked the fact that they had only shown up to tout this appallingly bad cd. Well, he might well mock. This cd is not worth touting and it puts a good band in a very bad light. Can we hope for better days? The band is going into the studio soon and with any luck they'll not bring the Celtic Woman with them.

I bought this CD for a friend of mine who is Irish Catholic for Saint Patty's Day. He greatly enjoyed it, and sent me back a thank-you letter. The music on this CD is gorgeous to listen to.

Earlier reviews here have been tepid. I admit this collaboration's not the way I prefer hearing Altan. I heard Máiread play with local Donegal fiddlers and sat six feet from her in a tiny village hall, and that was preferable.

Still, this is not as MOR as I feared. I wrote my review below before logging on to Amazon and finding others had heard it and rubbished it. I am not a big fan of such orchestral efforts, but I listened with an open ear, and I hope you do too. After 25 years they may be edging towards the Chieftains film accompaniment route and that'd be a letdown for me, but this isn't "Celtic Women," in my opinion, either. Here's the review as I wrote it-- for an introduction to people who might not have heard them---

This gathers favorite material from arguably Ireland's leading traditional ensemble. A quarter-century together, Altan here roams into the orchestral, cinematic, epic realm. Recorded with the Irish radio-television orchestra, the songs alternate lots of strings with the Co. Donegal fiddled and strummed expertise that established this band's reputation.

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's direct, wistful vocals offer a contemplative, yearning quality that in this production luckily finds sensitive balance with the massed instrumentation. The group manages to keep their accompaniment muted to allow her singing, often in her native Irish, to float over the woodwinds and flutes. These may remind listeners of the countryside and its wandering lovers about which the lyrics often reflect, as on "Cití na gCumann," or the closing lullaby "Dún Do Shúil."

Bouzouki player Ciarán Curran, fiddler Ciarán Tourish, guitarist Mark Kelly, and accordionist Dermot Byrne all deliver solid-- if rather understated at times as is necessary in the concert setting-- backing along with Ní Mhaonaigh's own fiddling. The melancholy airs that this group favors may be heightened by the dedication of this album to Mairéad's father, himself a musician in a long line of such.

How does this soulful music manage to be honest rather than sentimental? The band lets up and lets the strings take over, and then returns to gently assert its own dynamics. Often, on other records, this combination of orchestra with other genre players washes the tunes into an overlay of symphonic gloss, and vocalists may struggle to be heard above perhaps ninety players --rather than four or five bandmates. But, the group on "Dónal agus Mórag" holds back so Ní Mhaonaigh's articulation of tricky Gaelic staccato can be heard clearly, freed in the verse and then backed by the chorus. As this song builds, so gradually does the orchestra, ending in percussive triumph. This depth highlights the back-and-forth nature of this production by the band with arranger Fiachra Trench, which offers more scope than a conventional folk recording.

Fans of The Chieftains, whose music over their own half-century evolved into this type of collaboration, may welcome a chance to hear Altan in this venue. "Comb Your Hair and Curl It/ Gweebarra Bridges" represent a similar melding of traditional with orchestral arrangements. While their own intimate early efforts (the first five studio recordings released in America on Green Linnet are recommended over their later EMI or Narada New Age-tinged albums) offer the best introductions to this group's charm, this well-chosen sampler from ten albums may tempt newcomers towards their back catalogue.

The pacing of the tunes accentuates their stately quality. "Molly na gCuach Ní Chuilleannáin" recalls pre-synthesizer Clannad (from the same district as Altan) with its massed vocals and rhythmic pace. They cover one of Clannad's best tunes, "Gleanntain Ghlas Ghaoth Dhobhair," which was adapted into The Shamrock Shore, itself well sung by both Paul Brady and Horslips. This typical interplay of the Irish tradition with its modern interpreters shows Altan's ability to popularize its heritage while staying close to its roots--which are in Gaoth Dhobhair on the remote northwest coast of Co. Donegal.

The Christmas tune "Soilse na Nollaig" and the standby "As I Roved Out" slow the direction down a bit too much, but what follows is memorable. This is "The Sunset," composed by Séamus Quinn and Cathal McConnell, all the way from their 1987 début. Its gently rippling melody, once rendered by their late flautist Frankie Kennedy, deserves its reprise here alongside Byrne's nimble support. With such a range of feeling and expression of moods that Altan conveys, their innovations here show continued love for the music and a delight in delivering it with respect and affection.

Altan is an acclaimed group of Irish of musicians with a rich repertoire of lilting, poetic, traditional performances, with a passionate emphasis on Celtic heritage and captivating string playing. Altan: 25th Anniversary Celebration is a new album of some of their most beloved works, recorded with the RTE concert orchestra. A quarter century's worth of brilliant, exciting, and lush cultural songs fill this wonderful album, which makes the perfect gift for anyone who loves Celtic music. Highly recommended. The tracks are "Is the Big Man Within?/Tilly Finn's Reel" (3:52), "Citi na gCumann" (4:03), "The Roseville" (2:20), "I Wish My Love Was a Red Red Rose" (3:44), "Donal agus Morag" (4:28), "Mo Ghaoil" (4:19), "Bog an Lochain/The Margaree Reel/The Humours of Westport" (3:34), "A Tune For Frankie" (3:24), "Molly na gCuach Ni Chuilleannain" (2:39), "Soilsena Nollag" (5:17), "As I Roved Out" (4:02), "The Sunset" (3:47), "Gleanntain Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair" (3:37), "Comb Your Hair and Curl It/Gweebarra Bridge" (3:37), and "Dun Do Shuil" 3:32.