Paul Gillis reduces Irish “Christmas 1916” to desperate hardscrabble worn out joy. Folk tragedy. Learn from it. I guess.
Janne has penned a nine-minute three-part German folk opera in 2015 known as “Christmas 1916.” Fairly rocks. It’s The Great War, natch, but late at night (near Xmas) one soldier lights his cigarette, on t’other side of the trenches another takes the shot, then there’s a dreamy walk down a sunny lane and thoughtful humming. Not exactly Wagner. But that can be a good thing.