Review: Le Vent du Nord’s 10th Anniversary with Väsen, Dervish and Breabach - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

By Jim Gilchrist
Published on Tuesday 24 January 2012 00:00

Things were threatening to become quite tearful, in a totally joyful way, by the end of this unforgettable show.

A marvellous mutual love-in was hosted by Québécois quartet Le Vent du Nord – in whose decade-long coming of age Celtic Connections has played a significant springboard role – with three other top acts from Sweden, Ireland and Scotland, and a near-sellout Saturday night crowd.

Nothing was ever going to go far wrong, what with both the birthday and the mouth-watering line-up – completed by not one, but two string quartets, comprising the likes of Greg Lawson, Christine Hanson and Fiona Cuthill – but all concerned rose resoundingly to the occasion by evident dint of diligent preparation and rehearsal, which shone through in silky-smooth, sumptuously swinging ensemble interplay, delivering two hours of virtually non-stop musical highlights.

In amongst a veritable feast of instrumental colours and textures, the rich and rare alignment of Väsen’s Olov Johansson, on nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed fiddle) and Mikael Marin on five-string viola, with Le Vent du Nord’s Nicolas Boulerice on hurdy-gurdy (ancient French keyed fiddle) was particularly revelatory – but no less so, once again, were the Canadians’ immaculately radiant, red-blooded four-part vocals, a sound as lusciously suave as it is resonantly earthy.

The set-list roamed seamlessly between material from each band’s repertoire, spanning and transcending traditions – not least in Boulerice’s breathtaking hurdy-gurdy solo, itself a mesh of the medieval with the futuristic – while vibrantly affirming each one’s uniqueness. An early contender for this year’s top Celtic Connections gig.

Rating: *****

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