Dublin Latin Festival 2012 took over the National Concert Hall in DublinA night of Latin ‘n’ Irish with Antoni O’Breskey

By Ian CallagyLatin music mixed with an Irish traditional style, topped off with some unmissable dancing. That’s what Antonio O’Breskey brought with him when he played Dublin’s presti-gious National Concert Hall (NCH) recently. Men, as the say-ing goes, don’t always know what to do with their hands. Not so with O’Breskey, who demonstrated what an excellent virtuo-so he is on the piano. Tickling the ivory, he was accompanied by what can only be described as a superb bunch of musicians.The Italian-born piano extraordinaire clearly loves Ireland. This may be why he changed his surname from Breshi to the more Irish sounding O’Breskey. On perhaps a sad note, the absence of one of Ireland’s favourite sons, Ronnie Drew, was acknowledged on the night. The famous singer died a couple of years ago and his son Phelim performed a duet with O’Breskey, on piano, remembering the popular former singer with The Dubliners. It was a poignant moment.But this was not a concert of funereal sobriety, rather a testa-ment to how wonderful it is when differing cultures combine. Few gigs could juxtapose Spanish ( Rocio Fernandez, & guitar virtuosi Juan Jose Manzano), tango (Tango Fiesta)and Irish dancing. At one point a choir from Allience Francaise ap-peared on stage which added to this interesting mix. Rocio Fernandez Spanish dancer, fully equipped with castanets, showed off how good she was at threading the boards whilst the musicians continued to pump out some fabulous sounds. Instruments including the Uilleann pipes, cello and bodhran, along with O’Breskey’s lilting piano, continued to fascinate as the performance continued.By evening’s end the audience at the NCH were on their feet, full of praise for this cultural abundance . O’Breskey has a pleasant demeanour on stage and will make the job of selling his new album, ‘Sail On’, a much easier task on the basis of this performance. It was an opportunity for all those who attended to relax in a highly civilised manner. The star of the night was masterful on the piano, an instrument capable of bringing all sorts of emotions out of people and it was a real pleasure to hear just how good the bearded maestro is. O’Breskey pushes musical and cultural boundaries with considerable ease. An unforgettable celebration produced by Raffael Abarca director of Dublin Latin Festival with support of DMP, News BRazil & Yeah! events.

Photography: Alex Oliveira