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ALTAN: THE BRENDAN VOYAGE **** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL
Given Celtic Connections' own considerable track record of folk/ orchestral collaborations, it was entirely fitting that the festival should host the first Scottish performance in 20 years of The Brendan Voyage, which pioneered the concept back in 1980. Inspired by a modern-day recreation of its Irish namesake's fabled transatlantic crossing 1,300 years ago, in a leather-hulled coracle, Shaun Davey's composition broke new ground in aligning classical orchestra with uilleann pipes, the latter part being written specifically for Liam O'Flynn, who featured again as soloist here.
Davey's stroke of genius lay in deploying the pipes to represent the boat and its passengers, while the orchestra, in this case on loan from Scottish Opera, conjures all the mighty forces of nature - sea, wind, icebergs, whales - ranged against them.
Few things are...