11 years after his untimely death, it’s time to celebrate the man all over again
Despite the moving simplicity of many of his best known songs, the late Christie Hennessy always wanted to record an album with a full orchestra. He also often expressed admiration for Harry Nillson’s 1973 album of orchestral standards, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.
On this wonderful posthumous release, Christie’s wish finally comes true. With help from his conductor son Tim and under the baton of Gavin Moloney, some of the Kerryman’s most loved compositions have been re-recorded with the 45-piece RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
The results are never less than beautiful and these songs really bloom into fresh life decades after they were first written and sung.
Messenger Boy fair crackles with country guitar licks as the orchestra canters along. Both Oh Jealous Heart and the lovelorn Soho Square are given new treatments, while Roll Back The Clouds (I Am A Star), one of the great songs about the loneliness of the struggling musician, is accompanied by oboes, flute and the swell of strings.
The Actor is also given a stately upholstering and as ever, Christie’s knack for turning the simplest of lyrical turns into heartbreak moments are still quietly powerful.
Most moving of all are two duets with Christy’s daughter Hermione on Every Time A Star Falls, and If You Were To Fall (And I Was To Fall In Love With You), with the crystal purity of the daughter’s voice chiming with her father’s more plaintive style.
Somewhere, Christie’s eyes are twinkling; down here, there won’t be a dry eye in the house.
Alan Corr @corralan
Hennessy: A Tribute to Christie is at the NCH, February 7, 2019 with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
