Roots-Minded Altan Mixes Moods

When Altan’s flutist and founding member Frankie Kennedy died of cancer in 1994, the future looked shaky for the Irish folk group. But after much soul-searching, fiddler-vocalist Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Kennedy’s musical and marital partner, decided to carry on in his memory.

A wise decision, for Altan’s rich, spirited music is reaching its widest audience ever.

After seven albums on the tiny Green Linnett label, the band in 1995 signed a five-album deal with Virgin Records. The group has released “Blackwater” (1996) and “Runaway Sunday” (‘97), and it’s on its most ambitious tour yet--44 dates in North America. Among last week’s stops was a gig at SXSW, the annual rock-oriented showcase in Austin, Texas. (See related story, F6)

For better and worse, the Dublin-based quintet appeared Sunday in the more elegant surroundings of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Much of the band’s repertoire is loaded with energetic instrumentals more suited to the boisterous pubs and dance halls of its homeland than to the prim-and-proper atmosphere of a Segerstrom Hall.

Yet the venue mattered not to Altan, which spent nearly two hours demonstrating why traditional Celtic music remains so vital and inspiring. Drawing from the rich musical heritage of the Gaelic-speaking region of County Donegal, the group played a mixture of heart-wrenching ballads and fast-paced jigs, reels and barn dances with exceptional skill, grace and passion.

Featuring blazing, single-stroke bowing and staccato triplets, Ni Mhaonaigh and Ciaran Tourish’s twin fiddling led the charge, their dazzling solo turns creating aural and visual pleasures. Ni Mhaonaigh was particularly captivating during an elegy titled “A Tune for Frankie,” where tender fiddle work movingly evoked sorrow and a sense of longing.

Melancholia was a recurring theme for Altan, a point stressed by Ni Mhaonaigh when she introduced a number from the group’s second album: “This song [‘Tuirse Mo Chroi’] translates, ‘My Heart Is Tired of Marriage.’ ” The evening’s second set began with “Citi Ni Eadhra,” a heartbreaking song about a man whose sweetheart dies three months after they meet.

Still, Altan offered a few uplifting songs, including a slightly skewed version of Robert Burns’ “I Wish My Love Was a Red, Red Rose” and the poetic “A Moment in Time,” which spotlighted Ni Mhaonaigh’s soaring, angelic voice. In fact, prior to an honest-to-goodness love song (“Bruach Na Carraigne Baine,”) a bubbly Ni Mhaonaigh said, “Most of the time, someone is left brokenhearted or murdered. But in this song, they live happily ever after.”

First-rate ensemble playing made an impression throughout as button-accordionist Dermot Byrne, bouzouki player Ciaran Curran and acoustic guitarist Daithi Sproule added subtle colors and textures. Sproule sang lead on “The Beaver Brigg,” a fine sea chantey from his solo LP. In another twist, Tourish’s eerie, hypnotic playing on tin whistle brought an absolute hush to the crowd.

Happy or sad, slow or fast, Altan’s tunes have a fresh-sounding, vibrant quality that holds dear a spirit of traditional purity.

* Altan performs Sunday at Veterans Wadsworth Theatre, Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards, Brentwood. 7 p.m. $27-$30. (310) 825-2101.