Daughters of Albion
Cork Opera House
Reviews / 9th May 2005
The Irish Times

‘When the aunt of all English folk singers, June Tabor referred to the recent horrors of foot-and-mouth, the kinship of the two nation’s song traditions was underlined.

Songs sourced in rural life, the sea, love, murder and horses; delivered by five highly respected singers in a finely tuned musical setting vindicated all those involved in a tricky pilot project and was a credit to the 2005 Capital of Culture programme…

Opening in unison, Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy, June Tabor, Kathryn Williams and Thea Gilmore nailed down a north country ballad with the confident harmonies that give the genre its reputation.The wonderful Norma Waterson sang songs penned by her sister Lal and older songs with an ease and dignity that set the standard for a night’s intertwining of contemporary and ancient works.Kathryn Williams sang her own songs with a nicely pitched oddness that deftly offset the sobering presence of long-time doyenne June Tabor.

Tabor’s dramatic gravitas jostled with a voice that, in a macaronic version of ‘Lily Marlene’ held the audience enthralled.

Formidable, unaffected, curvaceous and likeable would describe Eliza Carthy’s fiddle playing, but not do justice to the lady herself.

Rightly seen as the burning star of English folk music, Carthy’s repertoire from the past and present was a sheer delight ‘delivered with an authenticity and verve that we could have listened to all night.

Directed by Kate St John, the excellent 10 piece house band gave Eliza’s opener the Tom Wait’s treatment and throughout the night never put a foot wrong in a variety of settings.

Hosted by Karan Casey who gave us a show-stopping ‘sean nos’ song from her native Waterford tradition, ‘The Daughters of Albion’ concert was a seminal event – and long may this project prosper.’ Colm Murphy.