An unexpected musical experience awaited us in the beautiful gardens of the Batha museum, a haven of peace scented with roses. Beneath the Andalucian arches which surround this refreshing space, colour photographs of a sultry Morocco by Martine Franck and Tibetan portraits by the black-and-white master Henri Cartier-Bresson (who was in attendance), gave a foretaste of the dream-world to which the Irish choir Anúna had invited us. Those expecting to hear a simple choral concert were to be won over by the originality of Anúna’s programme and its presentation.

The foliage of the majestic oak tree sheltering the stage transported the audience directly to the mythical times of the druids, summoned by the "Songs of Innisfree" (the name of the concert, which was inspired by a Yeats poem). The founders of Anúna, twins Michael and John McGlynn, composer and production designer respectively, were already familiar with this location and, in spatialising the sounds, they reinforced the dream-like quality of the performance. A whistle sounded close to a fountain at the centre of the audience while chanting male voices processed towards the stage. Four sopranos in long dark velvet dresses joined them, four others moved throughout the audience.

Flow and counter-flow: the voices gathered on the stage; they moved again during the concert, circling around the arches where they stopped for the duration of a song then moved on for another… This allowed us time to savour the appealing variety of the voices which comprise Anúna, and particularly the rich beauty of the mezzo-soprano of Miriam Blennerhasset. We crossed the centuries (sixth, ninth, sixteenth…) and languages (Irish, Scots Gaelic, Breton, Latin, ancient English…). We followed in the footsteps of St. Brendan across the sea routes of Nova-Scotia, which was not yet known as "America". And, when the echoing voices answered each other in circular waves around the courtyard, disappearing in a last swirling whisper, Anúna had brought us an exquisite softness that could just be the music of angels.

François Bensignor, Mondomix

Translation Garrath Patterson