Music Reviews

Feb 5, 2000 - The Hayes and Cahill Celtic Experience at Nightingale

By Jack Neal

In their program notes the work of Celtic violinist Martin Hayes and Celtic guitarist Dennis Cahill is described as "holding listeners spellbound with their slow-building, fiery performances."

That's an apt description of what Wednesday's large audience got at Nightingale Concert Hall. Hayes's violining is entrancing, sexual, in fact, in its movement from simple statement to driving culmination. Cahill's guitar work is as masterful for its understatement as for its skill, which is enormously articulate. I found the work of both artists to be consistently superb.

But consistently superb performances on an all too consistently consistent program makes for diminished returns.

With the Hayes and Cahill by-the-numbers approach to concertizing, little changes from one collection of pieces to another. The team plays medlies of Irish tunes and jigs extemporizing as they go. Their formula begins with a simple thematic statement made by the violin with simple support from the guitar. Then, much like Ravel's "Bolero," the simple statement is played over, and over, and over again until the mere drive and sexuality of its repetition, increased volume and heightened passion mesmerizes the materials into a burst of climactic musical release.

On Wednesday each such episode was followed by bursts of applause and shouts of pleasure. Applause was followed by commentary about what was coming next. For those with an ear for Hayes's Irish brogue (a few chuckled at his wit) the commentary was charming. In spite of amplification, for many Hayes's commentary came off as too soft spoken and difficult to understand.

Without an enlightening written program or enlightening commentary from the stage, enlightenment is left to the purchase of CDs and tapes at intermission. (Remember the extensive notes on record jackets?) Top artists such as Hayes and Cahill should plug their recordings. Other than top pop and rock stars few musicians have incomes commensurate with their talent. Sales, however, should be an adjunct to pleasure and not the primary key to appreciating a live performance. It's this kind of hype and sales at extended intermissions that pushes temperamental critics into leaving at intermission, which is what I did.

The final concert on this season's Performing Arts Series is Quink. Quink is billed as a remarkable group of five Dutch singers similar in style to Chanticleer and Anonymous Four. Performing Arts Series concerts can be heard at Nightingale Concert Hall on the UNR campus, 900 North Virginia Street, Reno. For information call 775-784-4046 ot 775-784-6847.