Finbar Wright, one-third of The Irish Tenors, can cite
some interesting career milestones. How many other performers can say they have
sung before the Pope and sung with Jerry Lee Lewis?
Wright was born
in Kinsale, County Cork, the youngest of eight children. Before he was a professional
singer, he was a priest, and it was during this time in his life that he sang
before Pope John Paul II.
"I was a priest for seven years," he said. "More
a teacher than a priest, mind you, because I was appointed to a college once I
was ordained, and I spent my time teaching Spanish and Latin, believe it or not.
So I actually never got to the point where I was at a parish and did the priestly
thing.
"Maybe if I'd been doing that, I'd still be at it. I'm not sure."
Instead, Wright left the priesthood to become a singer, and now, with fellow
Irish tenors Ronan Tynan and Anthony Kearns, tours the world. They will be stopping
this weekend at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Wright isn't
one of the original Irish Tenors, although he was asked to be one when the group
formed back in 1998.
"I was under contract to Sony Music with whom I had
done about six albums, and ... Sony didn't think it was such a great idea, and
they didn't want to release me from my contract," he said.
"John McDermott
decided to leave at the end of 1999. The party had hardly gotten going at the
time, so it wasn't set up as an established act for years and years. My contract
with Sony had ended ... so I was a free agent."
And so Wright began a life
of recording and extensive touring, a schedule he said he doesn't mind at all.
"I love it, actually, I must admit. I am very lucky in that I have two
companions with me on the road, and a lot of artists don't have that luxury,"
he said. "We've gotten on from the very beginning, and we have a good time together."
So how did a tenor whose favorite vocal selections include archiac arias,
end up sharing a stage with Jerry Lee Lewis? Did he really do that?
"I
did! Jerry Lee Lewis was in what he called his Irish Tenor period. He'd actually
moved to Ireland for a little while," Wright said. "I was asked to record a Christmas
special with him so, believe it or not, I sang White Christmas with him.
"And
he did all the usual -- Great Balls of Fire and all those. He was exceptional
... an incredible guy to work with. Because, you know, you have this vision of
a mad rocker and everything else, and when he arrived, he was the picture of politeness
and a real Southern gentleman and everybody was terribly impressed."
The
big question, however, is what makes an Irish tenor different from any other kind
of tenor? Wright has some theories.
"I don't know if this has been scientifically
researched, but I think it has a lot to do with the Gaelic language. I think it
has to do with the native language you speak," he said. "Italian and Spanish have
all of these beautiful, warm vowel sounds and similarly Gaelic has a lot of those,
and I think that lends its own personality.
"In some way it is physiological,
too, as far as the shape of your mouth and your throat and everything else that
shapes what's going to come out of your mouth."
And how would he describe
that Irish tenor sound?
"The one word more than anything else is probably
'sweetness' -- sweetness of tone and a warm timbre. Sometimes it is hard to make
a distinction because I am sure there are Italian tenors that sound like Irish
tenors and Irish tenors that sound like Italian tenors and whatever," he said.
"A lot of Irish tenors through the ages have had that sweetness in their tone
which is kind of seen as sort of an Irish trait, I think."
Saturday's concert,
Wright said, is made for the holidays.
"It contains most of the real Christmas
potboilers, things like O Holy Night and that which are almost written
for tenors," he said. "Some of the Christmas repertoire is among the most beautiful
in the world."
But there will be traditional Irish favorites as well, such
as Danny Boy.
"Could we have a concert without it?" he asked, laughing.
"People wouldn't leave ... until we sang it."
