Limerick Community Orchestra

Oh, I have to tell you about the Christmas concert put on by the Limerick Community Orchestra, she said, leaning forward and tapping the Gentle Reader on the back of the hand. It was hysterically funny, very earnest, and utterly enjoyable. First, it was a juxtaposition of conflicting talent and an orchestra that played in multiple accents. The orchestra itself was made up of community members (town and gown) who were clearly very earnest about the music. They played Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony for the first half. I feared for them, and I think they were none too sure of it themselves. The clarinet honked early in the piece, and the french horns were playing in a parallel universe. There was a point later in the concert during "Hark the Herald Angles Sing" that I think these guys actually warped the space time continuum when they burbled in on the chorus. The rest of the orchestra spent a lot of time trying to keep up with each other, but they made it to the end of each movement more or less at the same time, which was bravely done. Concepts of flat and sharp needed to be discarded early in the piece by the audience as it would appear that the players had already done so, but after a few notes, whatever section happened to be looking for the key did find it. As a result, the whole piece had a certain element of suspense that made it quite interesting.

The second half of the piece revealed the different native music accents of the community. There were several 'Christmas Favorites' medlies. On the parts that would swing, the very earnest trombones just let loose and the trumpet player turned so red I thought he might explode. The percussionist played a drum set for these bits, and he was clearly in his element. Based on sections of 'Oh Holy Night' I would say that the triangle is not his favorite. So I think there were some members of a swing band in the community orchestra. There were also clearly quite a number of traditional music fiddlers in the violin and viola sections. As the concert progressed, the instruments began to drift in front of the players and down, and their hands crept up the bows as their wrists bent more and more. Only two gentlemen maintained the classical violin position (up, straight wrist, and 90 degrees from the front of the body) and they appeared to have at least parents from India, if not being originally from India themselves. The tuba players were great! You could count on those big guys to come in right on time and on notes that a person in the audience would expect. Do any thin people play tubas? Maybe one needs that girth to get the sound out.

And then the community choir came out. Clearly, they had received instructions to wear black and red, but I think they needed a little more direction. The choir mistress was quite lovely in a little black bolero over a red gorgette dress that came to the knee, with low black heels. The dear young lady standing next to her was in a short black organza tutu like skirt with a polyester red wrap around blouse that did not quite meet the tutu. She had on argyll print black stockings and red knock-me-down espadrilles that had rather large red bows on the toes. I am not making this up. Next to her was a young lady in a black twill mini skirt, a red t-shirt with a black shrug, and blue tinted reading glasses. The large bow on top of her mousse spiked hair was nothing less than very red. And it continued down the line. And they sang very very well.

For this concert they also got a soloist. Regina Nathan is an Irish soprano who has sung at all the big international venues as well as in Verdi and Gluck operas. She is a big voice! She wore a black pillar skirt and a sequined tunic: oh so very chic. She sang some opera and drowned out the orchestra, which was okay because they were just trying to keep up. Her powerful voice and presence did more for that orchestra than their conductor in his black frock coat and red satin waistcoat. Ms. Nathan really pulled them together into quite a confident sound. There was a little girl of about eight sitting in front of me in the front row (I was in the second row), who would look in astonishment at her mother every time Ms. Nathan belted out a fortissimo section, which was blowing back the hair of the whole first three rows. At the end of the concert, where the community choir came out, Ms. Nathan joined the soprano section. Woo hoo! The orchestra played, the choir sang, the audience chimed in, and Ms. Nathan sang a descant that made dust fall from the roof. At one point in Hark the Herald Angles Sing, she was so amazing that the choir almost forgot to sing and the choir mistress was working hard to remind them that they were singing *with* Ms. Nathan. It was at this hilarious point that the french horns thought they might warble something that may have been indicated in the music in their universe, and I almost laughed out loud because there was so much going on all at once. The drama! The sheer drama of this concert is unmatched in my experience.