Edinburgh International Festival 8th-31st August 2008

Forget the birdlike physique and sweet breathy voice of the French Sister who trilled her way into the charts in the 1960s with Dominique, -nique, - nique.  Sister Marie is a very different kind of singing nun: a big woman, with a big voice that suited the superb acoustic of Greyfriars Kirk perfectly. She presented a unique programme of chants from various traditions of the Eastern Catholic Church with support from her Ensemble de la Paix, a group of seven singers and five instrumentalists which she herself formed during the bombing of her native Lebanon. This was quite a physical performance: at times she kept her eyes closed for minutes on end as if in a trance and sometimes used her large expressive hands to emphasize mood or emotion. Although Sister Marie was the dominant figure both visually and vocally, there were also some glorious solo contributions from the percussionist and the bouzouki player. This kind of music is probably unfamiliar to most western ears, but the rich variety of tone and mood, especially in the Liturgy of the Passion, held the audience in rapt attention throughout. These early evening Greyfriars concerts are again proving extremely popular and, if this one is anything to go by, it is easy to understand why. A rare treat indeed.

- EIF Critic Bridget Stevens