Duke Special, Julie Feeney + Foy Vance live at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast

It’s the musical equivalent of love across the barricades. A one-night stand entitled Orchestral Manoeuvres In Belfast in which the Ulster Orchestra gets its oh-so-refined freak on with three of Ireland’s most popular performers, Duke Special, Foy Vance and Julie Feeney, and all for the titillation of a capacity Waterfront Hall. Can these disparate performers make sweet music together or will it all prove mutually unsatisfying?
First up, Julie Feeney, who opens proceedings with a cascading song cycle based on her Choice Music Prize-winning 13 Songs. Having studied composition and worked as a professional choral singer, Feeney knows a thing or two about elegant music. Tonight it shows. Enfolded in the loving caress of the orchestra, her songs segue seamlessly, the glacial sophistication of the arrangements finding balance in the furnace-like intensity of her performance. Bravo.
If the difference between Feeney’s modus operandi and that of the orchestra was a mere crack in the pavement, then for Foy Vance it’s an earth shattered chasm. The guitar-slinging troubadour sports a big voice and big heart, but little compatibility with the classical oeuvre. Nonetheless, aided by Andrew Skeet’s sumptuous arrangements, the unquenchable humanity of the man’s music shines through and, an oddly subdued rendition of ‘Gabriel And The Vagabond’ aside, this is a soul-storming set. With the orchestra giving it plenty of oomph and conductor David Brophy a gesticulating dervish, ‘Be With Me’ whips the blood into a frothy crimson lather. Vancetastic.
Glossy programmes, pre-ordered interval drinks and infinitely patient ushers, it’s been an evening of refinement and no mistake. And now for the classiest act of the lot, Duke Special. Summoned to the stage by an orchestral medley of Songs From The Deep Forest, the buttoned up little soldier boy takes his place, ready to serenade us with music drawn from the deepest well-spring of the human heart. The orchestra proves a formidable ally, spectacularly heightening the music’s already considerable emotional panache. “I don’t wanna lose this,” sings Wilson on the closing ‘Freewheel’, his voice trembling with the sheer truth of the sentiment. In his ascension to a place amongst music’s aristocracy, Duke Special can have experienced few moments as gratifying as this.