Anthony Kearns
Popular Song and Opera
The Britten Theatre
Royal College of Music
London
April 9, 2010

Review by
June Fletcher

© Anthony Kearns, March 17, 2002-2010, All Rights Reserved, All Copyright Laws Apply...lynnco.lc
We received some good news a few weeks ago: Anthony was to sing in London! We had been hoping that Anthony would come over to England one day.  We have seen him many times in Ireland, but this was going to be very special:  An Evening of Song and Popular Opera presented by Irish Heritage.

The concert took place at the Britten Theatre, a small  venue within the Royal College of Music, an ideal intimate setting for this type of recital. Anthony shared the stage with two attractive ladies, Mairead Hurley and Claudia Boyle. We spoke with some of the organisers before the concert, including Niall Gallagher from Irish Heritage who kindly gave me a concert poster. They were extremely pleased and honoured to have Anthony there at short notice, the original tenor was taking his final exams.

Niall introduced Anthony as "Ireland's Top Tenor and founding member of The Irish Tenors," then all three performers came on stage.  I was surprised to hear "Vienna, City of My Dreams;" it was listed on the programme as the  closing song of the first half!   But it made a good start to the concert: a lovely duet with two voices blending perfectly.   The singers did a waltz and were obviously enjoying themselves. 

Anthony explained that the programme had been altered slightly, as we were to discover later on.  It was a good idea to begin with a duet,  which was followed by four solos: Anthony's  "Zueignung" by Richard Strauss and "Apres un Reve;"  Claudia's  "Gaynmed" by Shubert and "Les Filles de Cadiz."  Anthony was in fine voice, as always, and we were very impressed by Claudia, too.

Time for kissing then began with "Girls were made to love and kiss" which Anthony sang mainly in German, ending in English.   It was worth coming to London just to hear this song; it's one of my favourites!   Claudia then responded in the same theme with "Mein lippen, sie kussen so heiss" also by Franz Lehar, in a very lively performance.
 
Before the interval, we were treated to a few Irish songs. Claudia sang a beautiful "Last Rose of Summer." She has a lovely, powerful voice, with the ability to sing softly and sweetly,  drawing the audience into a song in the same way that Anthony does.   A nice surprise addition was Anthony's "Down by the Sally Gardens."   Then along came an old friend," Kitty Me Love" being asked for her hand in marriage by the Tenor. This was followed by an incredible "Danny Boy" duet.   I have heard the song many times down through the years, but I think this was the best I have ever heard; it was perfectly lovely!  

I must also praise Mairead for her piano accompaniment throughout the evening.  She and Anthony have worked together before, and  are obviously great friends.

All too soon, it was interval time. We had enjoyed watching all three performers so much. As my husband must use a mobility scooter when he goes out, our seats were on the Dress Circle where the wheelchair spaces are available.  I am a front row person so was worried about our location. But we had a very good view of the stage. Though a bit farther away than we are used to, it was interesting to have a different view looking down at the stage and observing the audience reaction.

The programme for the second half was:

DONIZETTI                from     L'ELSIR D'AMOR
                                        
Non so se e finta o vera  (duet)
Una furtiva lagrima (tenor)
Prendi, per me sei libero (soprano)


VERDI                 from          LA TRAVIATA

De'mei bollenti spiriti  (tenor)
Sempre libera   (soprano)
Un di,felice eterea   (duet)

GOUNOD       from     ROMEO ET JULIETTE

Ah! Je veux vivre   (soprano)
Ah ! Live -toi soleil  (tenor)
Romeo!  Quas-tu  (duet)


We had enjoyed the first half, but the second half was even better!   We were treated to plenty of singing and acting, with selections from three operas.   Claudia wore peach the first half and was in a lovely white gown for the second half.  Claudie is very attractive, with long blonde hair.  She has a lovely voice and I'm sure she has a great career ahead of her; she has already won several awards . 

Anthony and Claudia were excellent together.   I would enjoy seeong them work together again in an opera; they make a lovely couple and complement each other brilliantly.  They put  enthusiasm into everything they did, and acted out the roles perfectly.  It was especially interesting to see them as Romeo and Juliet, as Anthony recently appeared as Romeo. They were very convincing as the young lovers.  Their singing was beautiful and very romantic.  They enjoyed themselves throughout, and it was well received by the audience.  Anthony proved just how good he is in opera roles and we look forward to seeing him in Carmen.

I thought we had reached the end, but a couple of additions were added to the programme.  I'm ashamed to say that I can't put a name to Claudia's solo,  but she sang with great enthusiasm once again.  Anthony then returned for his final song, his marvelous "Granada," another of my favourites.   It was well sung as usual and his voice was very powerful.  There were no microphones in evidence this evening and the singers didn't need them. 

At the end of the evening, Anthony wished everyone a safe journey home.

It was a lovely concert!   We had been intending to visit London because we haven't been for a while, so we can thank Anthony for giving us the very best reason to do so!  He has been so busy this year, yet he managed to fit this concert in and we were delighted. We would liked to have told him how pleased we were to see him in the UK at last, but we didn't manage to speak to him so we'll have to tell him next time we see him!