RTÉ’s orchestra cuts will be seen everywhere, from weddings to schoolsWhen orchestras are silenced, society will feel the lossWed Nov 22 2017 - 05:00
The best classical music this week: Nikolaj Znaider joins the RTÉ NSO for first timeTed talk star Daria van den Bercken is in Galway and Russian violinist Alina Ibragimova plays an all-French programme in DroghedaSat Nov 18 2017 - 06:00
Denis Naughten should be alarmed by Ivan Yates’s RTÉ sourcesIs the strange approach to filling key posts in RTÉ’s orchestras a ploy to tear them down?Wed Nov 15 2017 - 05:00
The best classical music and opera this weekCity of London Sinfonia with pianist Michael McHale and conductor Michael Collins, Quatuor Voce’s nine-stop tour and NI Opera stage Così fan tutteSat Nov 11 2017 - 05:00
Can RTÉ effectively axe an orchestra?Cuts in RTÉ’s pool of musician employees is fuelling speculation about a merger of its two orchestrasWed Nov 08 2017 - 05:00
Classical highlights in NovemberAt last, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is presenting ‘A celebration of contemporary Irish female composers’ at the NCHFri Nov 03 2017 - 00:00
NCH finding space for work by living Irish composersIts Chamber Music series is its largest yet with a welcome focus on native talentWed Nov 01 2017 - 05:00
Classical music: the best concerts this weekFinghin Collins goes solo at Wexford Festival OperaFri Oct 27 2017 - 00:00
The Harvey Weinsteins of the world are well represented in operaWe laugh and clap along with characters in opera whose actions would scandalise us in real lifeWed Oct 25 2017 - 05:00
Wexford Festival Opera: the opening weekend’s reviews‘Medea’ misses the mark while ‘Risurrezione’ goes down a stormMon Oct 23 2017 - 12:00
Writing a melody is 'like walking on a graveyard. It’s full of dead composers'Italian classical guitarist Oscar Ghiglia pulls no punches when it comes to his students or his peersTue Oct 17 2017 - 05:00
Classical and opera highlights this weekWexford Festival Opera begins while ‘Eithne’ is presented in a concert performanceFri Oct 13 2017 - 00:00
Classical music round-up with Michael DervanA celebrated Swedish brass player, a master US percussionist and a Norwegian trumpeterFri Oct 06 2017 - 00:00
A good conductor helps an orchestra tune out the noiseNathalie Stutzmann infuses the RTÉ NSO’s playing with litheness, clarity and wit on her guest debutWed Oct 04 2017 - 05:00
Nathalie Stutzmann takes a bow with RTÉ NSOClassical highlights: Veronika Eberle, Tallis Scholars and RTÉ Contempo QuartetThu Sept 28 2017 - 13:00
Stereo sound: the contralto who doubles as a conductorNathalie Stutzmann, the new guest conductor of the RTÉ NSO, has found two very different ways of producing soundThu Sept 28 2017 - 05:00
Richter: Sinfonias, Sonatas & Oboe Concerto – rarely heard composer gets his dueWed Sept 27 2017 - 17:01
The Irish Baroque Orchestra’s Musical Joke falls flatThe IBO’s take on Mozart’s Musical Joke trample it to the level of the Dumb and Dumber moviesWed Sept 27 2017 - 05:00
Hungarian feel for New Ross Piano FestivalCulture Night concerts by Chamber Choir Ireland and Irish Chamber Orchestra offers 365 Variations on a GestureThu Sept 21 2017 - 13:00
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto; Hebrides Overture; Symphony No 5 review: bringing Mendelssohn back to basicsMENDELSSOHN: VIOLIN CONCERTO; HEBRIDES OVERTURE; REFORMATION SYMPHONYIsabelle Faust (violin), Freiburger Barockorchester/Pablo Heras-Casado *****Harmonia Mundi HMM 902325Wed Sept 20 2017 - 17:01
Britten’s opera stumbles from the small screen to the live stage‘Owen Wingrave’ fails to come to theatrical lifeWed Sept 20 2017 - 05:00
Feast of Russian miniatures: This week’s classical music highlightsElisaveta Blumina in Dublin, RTÉ Contempo Quartet on tour and Irish Baroque OrchestraThu Sept 14 2017 - 13:00
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 25 & 26 review: Knock me Amadeus!MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS 25 & 26Francesco Piemontesi (piano), Scottish CO/Andrew Manze ****Linn Records CKD 544Wed Sept 13 2017 - 17:01
Tinney a power of strength with the Navarra QuartetWestport Festival expands from three to six concertsWed Sept 13 2017 - 05:00
Kurtág: Complete Works for Ensemble and Choir reviewKURTÁG: COMPLETE WORKS FOR ENSEMBLE AND CHOIR *****Netherlands Radio Choir, Asko|Schönberg/Reinbert de LeeuwECM New Series 481 2883 (3 CDs)Thu Sept 07 2017 - 09:54
Experience counts in orchestras – but where are the opportunities?Esker Festival Orchestra and SinfoNua will be among victims of musical decline at RTÉWed Sept 06 2017 - 05:00
The colours of music: this week’s classical music highlightsTéada Trio explore synaesthesia, David Brophy conducts SinfoNua, and a choral contrastThu Aug 31 2017 - 13:00
Sounding the Feminists: promoting creative female musiciansWhat they want is for audiences ‘to hear the voices of those who continue to be marginalised due to their sex, gender identity, sexuality, race, and class’Wed Aug 30 2017 - 05:00
A free double bass concerto in the Ulster Hall: what more could you want?The best classical concerts next weekThu Aug 24 2017 - 13:00
Shining a light on Schubert at Kilkenny Arts FestivalAlfred Brendel plays along to probing essay: and who was being guyed in Crash Assembly piece?Wed Aug 23 2017 - 05:00
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Gustavo Gimeno – Shostakovich Symphony No 1 etc – Suave and urbaneSHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO 1 ETCOrchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Gustavo GimenoPentatone PTC 5186 6223Wed Aug 16 2017 - 17:01
From festivals to summer schools and lunchtime concertsThis week’s best classical concertsWed Aug 16 2017 - 13:00
Fire and triumphalism at this year's Kilkenny Arts FestivalPeter Whelan is at the start of a journey to uncover a neglected part of our musical legacyWed Aug 16 2017 - 05:00
Schubert dip and Caesar salad: Classical and opera treats this weekSchubert: Dreaming the Sublime, Giulio Cesare, and Rediscovering Irish State MusickThu Aug 10 2017 - 13:00
The countertenor: ‘It’s a Marmite voice – people either love it or hate it’After Iestyn Davies’s voice broke, finding his falsetto ‘accessed something inside of me’Thu Aug 10 2017 - 05:00
The new director of New Music Dublin has his work cut out for himThe experience of the festival has been like that of a child of warring parentsTue Aug 08 2017 - 16:45
Edinburgh 1742: Barsanti & Handel – Ensemble Marsyas/Peter Whelan album review: Baroque music gemWed Aug 02 2017 - 17:01
Opera on the line – a play with music or an opera?Donnacha Dennehy’s The Second Violinist, with a libretto by Enda Walsh, takes the phone in opera fully into the 21st centuryWed Aug 02 2017 - 06:45
The best classical performances to see this weekRussian fare and a 90th birthday celebration for Veronica DunneThu Jul 27 2017 - 13:00
The Royal Wind Music – Cosmography of Polyphony album review: An exploration into Renaissance musicWed Jul 26 2017 - 17:01
Frank McNamara gives a masterclass in how to handle mistakesThe pianist shows students how to handle the pressure of improvisationWed Jul 26 2017 - 08:54
The best classical performances to see this weekDublin International Piano Festival, opera at the Galway Arts Festival and 37th Chamber Music Festival in CastletownshendThu Jul 20 2017 - 13:00
Making music as a spontaneous, unpremeditated actMany great composers were also great improvisers, Mozart, Beethoven and Bruckner among themWed Jul 19 2017 - 05:00
