REVIEW Altan's "25th Anniversary" Album (Washington Post)

Tuesday March 23, 2010

(From The Washington Post)

By: Geoffrey Himes
Published: March 12, 2010

Pairing a folk string band with a classical orchestra is often a bad idea: The cohesiveness of the large ensemble can clash with the assertiveness of the small. But when the R.T.E Concert Orchestra, Ireland’s public-radio house orchestra, backs that country’s great folk band Altan on “25th Anniversary Celebration,” they blend unexpectedly well. That’s because precision harmonies are essential to Altan’s music, and the orchestra expands that signature sound without distorting it.

The group, which has worked with a classical string quartet, asked Irish composer Fiachra Trench to flesh out his chamber-music arrangements for a full orchestra. He does so quite tastefully, always allowing the folk quintet to own the foreground at the beginning of each song and bringing up the strings and woodwinds later to broaden the band’s musical ideas. The nine songs and six instrumental tracks — two-thirds traditional and all previously recorded — provide a sumptuous tour of the band’s quarter-century history.

It helps that Altan’s leader, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, is the Alison Krauss of Ireland — a talented fiddler and once-in-a-generation singer. When Ni Mhaonaigh warbles the slow air “I Wish My Love Was a Red Red Rose,” her soprano mirrors the lushness of the orchestra behind her and the yearning desire of the song’s lover.

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