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| Patricia O’Callaghan |
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| February 10, 2006 • Hugh's Room • Toronto |
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Always Leave ‘Em Wanting More
by Andy Frank |
Picture, if you will, an operatically trained, delightfully Canadian version of Sex and The City star Sarah Jessica Parker, only cuter. Surround her with a charming Gen-X male trio of bespectacled musicians from the classical, world and jazz genres on Hugh’s Room little corner stage and provide the trio with a challenging and wide-ranging set list of songs penned by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, even Randy Newman. The result is Patricia O’Callaghan’s February 10th concert experience.
It is indeed a rare treat these days to behold a genuine singer (sans-songwriter). Patricia O’Callaghan once fronted a high school band covering Ozzy Osborne songs, and can today be heard singing contemporary opera, and everything in between. A Patricia O’Callaghan concert is an invitation to sit back, disable the brain’s lyrical-analysis function, and just revel in her passionate interpretations of familiar songs like "La Vie en Rose" and Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah".
Her humour was displayed with renditions of Randy Newman’s “Let’s Drop The Big One” and a challenging fast number rhyming off a list of famous Russian composers’ names. “Don’t try that song after drinking beer!” joked an exhausted O’Callaghan, yearning to catch her breath by leaning on a non-existent grand piano.
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Her special skills are most evident in, broadly speaking, two techniques that must have come through years of practice. Generally, I find the old British-style of capping popular songs with operatic climaxes jarring and pretentious. Well, Patricia O’Callaghan used this technique a number of times, and it really worked for her; the transitions were flawless, as the operatic peaks served as the only logical place for her stellar range to continue its natural melodic journey.
The second dazzling skill on display in front of a full, happy Hugh’s Room house, was her mastery of pronunciation, in various languages. She sang in English, German, Ladino, French, and even the Russian composers’ names were accurately articulated . She especially won me over with her excellent German “ch”, which, to me, is the single difference between German sounding like a rough, hard language, or a beautiful, melodious one.
Finally, Patricia O’Callaghan is flat-out charming. While the small stage lends itself better to a recital-style performance than to cabaret, her charisma was evident from the moment she first appeared in a sexy, form-fitting pinstriped dress. In the second set, jeans and a loose blouse allowed her a little more room for expressive movement, which she displayed in the set’s opening number, "I’m Your Man" by Leonard Cohen.
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Her largely stoic trio was excellent, especially pianist Robert Kortgaard, whose sense of humour became increasingly evident as the night progressed. The sets were relatively short, but this reviewer welcomes an artist who doesn’t feel as though she needs to squeeze out every last drop of the concert opportunity. Patricia O’Callaghan also could have come back for a second encore as the enthusiastic audience certainly drummed up enough energy to make its wish clear, but she must subscribe to that old saying: “Always leave them wanting more”.
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The band
Patricia O’Callaghan | vocals
Robert Kortgaard | keyboard
Andrew Downing | bass
John Gzowski | guitar
www.patricia-ocallaghan.com
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