In conversation with Daryl Simpson from The Celtic Tenors

Big selling choral group Celtic Tenors always enjoy winning over the critics.

The Celtic Tenors, from left, Daryl Simpson, James Nelson and Matthew Gilsenan. Photo by Barry McCall

The Celtic Tenors, one of the UAE’s favourite choral groups, are making a return visit to Abu Dhabi for a performance at The Club in Abu Dhabi.

Since the trio’s inception in 1995, the Tenors – James Nelson, Matthew Gilsenan and Daryl Simpson (who replaced original member Niall Morris in 2006) – have toured the globe and released a dozen albums featuring folk tunes, opera favourites and pop songs sung in chiming harmonies.

While the albums have topped charts across Europe, Simpson says the group are at their best live on stage, where they go down a storm – with fans and cynics alike.

“A lot of the time we get cases of guys being dragged by their wives to our shows and they think it’s going to be a horrible evening,” he says. “But if I had a dollar for every person who told me: ‘I didn’t think it would be this good,’ I would be a very wealthy man.”

When The Celtic Tenors started out, success was almost immediate. Do you think the group stumbled upon a gap in the industry?

After The Three Tenors became popular, it certainly put an idea in many people’s heads around the world that this is indeed a nice concept. With our take, we wanted to bring elements of our own culture by adding some Irish and Celtic songs as well. I think our spin of having a combination of the classics with the traditional is quite potent because the Celtic diaspora is so huge around the world.

A lot of Irish music speaks about the homeland. Do you feel it is perfectly suited for an expat audience?

That is a fair comment. The whole idea of entertainment, whether it is music or stories, has a healing property with the Irish people. Also many Irish people travelled and settled in many parts of the world, and they do have a sense of yearning so there are a lot of songs about home. It is a way to make a ­connection.

The members of the trio come from Ireland’s north and south. Do you feel that 30 years ago, given the troubles in Ireland, the idea of The Celtic Tenors would have been inconceivable in the country?

It certainly would have been difficult for us to have a meaningful career in Ireland, while internationally it would have been no problem. There could have been some element of intimidation because some people wouldn’t have liked what we are doing. One of the things I find nice about what we are doing is that we are pushing the boundaries and portraying Ireland north and south as an artistic force.

As well as Celtic folk songs, the group are also not afraid to have a go at classic pop songs such as Air Supply’s Out of Love. How do you choose which tracks to record?

I believe a good song is a good song. Take a band such as Queen, who released absolute belters of songs that still stand up 30 years later – that’s how I judge a song. Also, when we are singing pop songs, we don’t turn on the operatic voice because it is not a good fit. It is like driving a Ferrari in a back track; it just doesn’t work, so we perform it as it is.

You left a reputable opera house in Switzerland to join the group in 2006. Did you have any fear of selling out when making that choice?

Those days have dissipated. I remember I sat with the head of that opera house in Zurich, a very powerful guy, and I told him I have been offered this role. When I asked him whether it would be good for my career he said that ultimately anything that can put you in front of people and is of a high quality is a good thing.

It was only in the past 15 or 20 years that we have been trying to box people into certain categories – but if you go back to people such as Enrico Caruso and John McCormack, they sang everything from opera to what was then contemporary pop songs. They were not as inhibited as we are and a lot of that has got to do with record shops having things like the country section here, the love songs sections there and opera over here.

Finally, for those who are coming to see you for the first time, how would you describe a Celtic Tenors live show?

What we try do in the shows is that yes, we sing opera and pop, but it’s not formulaic. We try to take people on an emotional journey in the show and relate to people on that level.

There is also a lot of banter on stage and I find that audiences really love that. They love to be part of what’s going in a show.

• The Celtic Tenors are at The Club, Mina Saadiyat on Friday. Doors open at 7pm, concert starts at 8pm. Tickets from Dh150 at www.timeouttickets.com