Smock Alley - Italian meets Irish in 18th century Dublin, with richly resonant performances from Irlandiani

I’m catching up on a few releases from First Hand Records from the last year. The first of these was prompted by also seeing the ensemble, Irlandiani, perform at this year’s Brighton Early Music Festival. Irlandiani were formed by cellist Carina Drury in 2020, and they describe themselves as a collective of historical and traditional instrumentalists who explore Italian and Irish musical connections in the 18^th century. So they were a great fit for this year’s BREMF, its theme being Connections. But first the disc. Titled Smock Alley, it focusses on Italian and Irish music with connections to the vibrant theatre scene in Dublin centred around the Smock Alley Theatre. 

 

A core of the recording is a set of Six Duos for Two Cellos, Op. 18 by Tommaso Giordani (1730-1806), performed here by Drury and fellow cellist Poppy Walshaw. Giordani moved to Dublin in around 1764, and worked as musical director at the Smock Alley Theatre. He briefly moved to London, where these duos were composed, but returned to Dublin for the rest of his life. The duets are light and graceful, and the deep tones of the two cellos combined create a warm soundworld. Each in two movements, the opening movements generally dance along, with singing lines, the two instruments chasing one another in thirds. When the second cello is given more supporting, accompanying rhythms, they are delivered here with delicacy, never laboured, despite the arpeggio movement. But it is in the faster, second movements where greater invention occurs. In Sonata No. 2, the Allegro (Tamborino) is an energetic romp, with instructions to hit the string with the bow, Drury and Walshaw delivering precise articulation as the music races along. Sontata No. 3 has a swinging Giga, and Sonata No. 6’s spiky Allegro bounces along playfully. Another Italian, Franceso Geminiani (1687-1762) is represented here. He also spent periods of time living in Dublin, including the last four years of his life. His Cello Sonata in A major, Op. 5, No. 1 receives a stylish performance from Walshaw here, with Drury supported by Nathaniel Mander on harpsichord for the continuo part. The opening movement has an expressive line, delicately ornamented by Walshaw, followed by impressive virtuosity in the Allegro that follows, with the harpsichord brightly jangling along. There’s more dramatic expression in the third movement, and the final Allegro contains moments of melodic interaction between the cello and harpsichord. Mander also gives us some solo pieces on the recording, with two of Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685-1757) Keyboard Sonatas, prefaced by a brief Introduction to Scarlatti’s Lessons by Thomas Roseingrave (1690/91-1766). Roseingrave was an organist in Dublin, but having dropped out of Trinity College Dublin, he was sent to Venice, where he met the Scarlatti family. He published an edition of Scarlatti’s Keyboard Sonatas, and that’s where the Introduction appeared. A graceful enough prelude, it is no match in terms of invention for Scarlatti’s rushing, rhythmic Sonata in G major, K13, or his fugally complex Sonata in G minor, K30. Mander is bright, energetic and precise in the former, and brings steady clarity to the latter. He also plays a very brief Prelude for Keyboard in A major, Op. 33 No. 11 by Giordani, playful but so short it flies by in a moment.

 

So, in contrast to the Italian fare, the disc is bookended with arrangements (by Drury and the ensemble) of traditional Irish tunes. Gallway’s Lament opens the disc, with the rich, resonant cellos joined by light percussion from John-Henry Baker. Baker switches to violone (or double bass viol) for Drury’s arrangement of Francis Hutcheson’s (1721-1784) To sleep. Hutcheson was an amateur composer, and wrote using the pseudonym ‘Frances Ireland’, and this three part glee works well with the three string instruments here, dancing along playfully in the rich, lower registers. At the other end of the disc come arrangements by the ensemble of Irish tunes Molly St George and The Rakes of Westmeath, both found in Burke Thumoth (c. 1717-1747)’s 12 Irish and 12 Scotch Airs with Variations of 1748. Thumoth was a musician, performing in London theatres, as well as performing a few times at the Smock Alley Theatre, but sadly died at the young age of 29. Molly St George’s mournful melodic line over droning and gentle pizzicato from the second cello and violone is rendered even more beautifully mournful in these lower registers, while The Rakes of Westmeath brings a sudden breath of fresh air with the dancing Irish flute, played by Eimear McGeown, with Baker providing percussion on the spoons and drum. And finally, the disc ends with Carina Drury’s own composition, Caoineadh, which draws on the Irish air Caoineath na dTri Muire. A distant, mournful lament is given a dark edge with shifting, thick chords and unexpected harmonic shifts from the cello and violone beneath Drury’s melodic cello line. A fascinating disc, exploring this unusual repertoire, and the Italian and Irish connections, as well as the different soundworld created by the lower, resonant instrumentation.

 

In concert at BREMF, the line-up was slightly different, with Aileen Henry’s delicate harp replacing the harpsichord, and guest, Irish fiddle player and singer Úna Palliser injecting another stylistic influence into proceedings. The Rakes of Westmeath, with Palliser on fiddle, had a different, yet equally engaging colour here, and this also returned as their encore. A few more traditional tunes made an appearance, and there was only space for a selection of the Giordani duos. Palliser’s keening vocals brought yet another element to their fascinating mix. A talented group of performers for sure – live, a few more upbeat numbers could lift the overall mood created by the lower, moody registers of the instruments, but that’s a minor quibble. Check out the disc, but also look out for them live if you can.

Various. 2023. Smock Alley. Irlandiani. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR144.