THE IRISH TIMES – May 24, 2004
THE IRISH TIMES – May 24, 2004
The candle-lit concert of Songs for Kings & Commoners by the vocal trio White Raven provided music-making of altogether finer finish. This is another multi-national group, with soprano Kathleen Dineen hailing from Country Cork, tenor David Munderloh from the United States, and baritone Raitis Grigalis from Latvia.
The music ranged from the 12th century songs of St Godric up to Spanish songs of the 15th century, and beyond to 20th century arrangements by the late John Fleagle, who set early texts for which no music has survived. And the voices accommodated to each other with such an apparent ease of clarity and blend that one could almost imagine the three singers had spent a lifetime performing together.
It didn’t seem to matter what musical material White Raven reached out to, or whether it was accompanied or not – Kathleen Dineen also played harp, and the trio were joined by Shira Kammen on vielle.
Everything they touched seemed to turn to purest gold.
Michael Dervan