Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No 1 and Sonatas Nos 2 & 3 album review: Hello cello!SAINT-SAËNS: CELLO CONCERTO NO 1; SONATAS NOS 2 & 3Emmanuelle Bertrand (cello), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester/James Gaffigan, Pascal Amoyel (piano) ****Harmonia Mundi HMM 902210Wed Jan 25 2017 - 16:15
Wolfgang Rihm can chat and compose at the same timeThe German composer is a master of quite contradictory styles and his output runs to more than 400 worksWed Jan 25 2017 - 06:00
Sea to the West classical album review: Layered sounds for solo sopranoSEA TO THE WESTElizabeth Hilliard (soprano) ****Métier MSV 28551Wed Jan 18 2017 - 16:15
RTÉ NSO and Nathalie Stutzmann – love at second sightThe NSO’s new principal guest conductor hit it off again with orchestra and audienceWed Jan 18 2017 - 06:00
Alfred Schnittke: Musica Nostalgica – impressive response to the composer’s workWed Jan 11 2017 - 16:15
Is Dublin finally getting a Handel on the ‘Messiah’?RTÉ Philharmonic Choir under Mark Hindley deliver a standout performanceWed Jan 11 2017 - 06:00
PRISM Quartet, The Crossing/Donald Nally: The Fifth Century album review - moves through a slow-motion universeWed Jan 04 2017 - 12:15
Fight for gender equality moves from theatre to musicWhen it comes to ‘gender mainstreaming’, we can learn something from Vienna city hallWed Jan 04 2017 - 06:00
Michael Dervan’s culture highlight of 2016: ‘Composing the Island’Culture review 2016: The funding of the Taoiseach’s promised Creative Ireland venture remains to be seenThu Dec 22 2016 - 09:25
Classical music review: Choir of King’s College short on Christmas spiritPlus: a biography of Samuel Beckett’s musical cousin John BeckettWed Dec 21 2016 - 06:00
Creative Ireland is a huge promise, but can it be kept?If these ambitions are realised, arts will receive their greatest leap in funding since the foundation of the StateWed Dec 14 2016 - 06:00
Classical music: Celine Byrne is key to Simon Walton’s Bord Gáis productionsRussian Puccini, refined Haydn and raw saxophoneWed Dec 07 2016 - 06:00
Encores After Beethoven album review: One more curtain callENCORES AFTER BEETHOVENAndrás Schiff (piano) ****ECM New Series 481 4474Wed Nov 30 2016 - 16:15
RTÉ not making right noises about musical movementsRecent changes in the national broadcaster have serious implications for music groupsWed Nov 30 2016 - 06:00
Franck, Kurtág, Previn, Schumann/ Augustin Hadelich (violin), Joyce Yang (piano) reviewWed Nov 23 2016 - 16:15
Mysterious musical chairs at RTÉ as arts job disappearsExecutive Director of RTÉ’s Orchestras, Quartet and Choirs moves to new roleWed Nov 23 2016 - 06:00
`I’m the new boy. I’ve been 18 years here'The Vanbrugh Quartet discuss the highs and lows and the state of classical music in Ireland after 30 years of music makingThu Nov 17 2016 - 05:00
Michael Dervan: Show us the money, EndaArts community will need to shout these words if they want to make a differenceWed Nov 16 2016 - 06:00
A I R classical album review: Stranger things indeedA I RFrode Haltli (accordion), Trondheim Soloists, Arditti Quartet ****ECM New Series 481 2802Wed Nov 09 2016 - 16:15
Classical music review: Two pianos and a cello ensembleUnusual musical combinations and an extreme reactionWed Nov 09 2016 - 06:00
Andreas Staier - Schubert’a Piano Trios album review: lean, austere and beautifulThu Nov 03 2016 - 11:55
Maria de Rudenz Wexford Opera Festival review - handsome and accomplishedGaetano Donizetti’s complicated and gory – and long-overlooked – work gets a fascinating outingWed Nov 02 2016 - 15:45
Waiting for Arts Council to get its opera house in orderThe upside-down provision of opera in Ireland neglects works people want to hear mostWed Nov 02 2016 - 06:00
Vanessa review: Emotional turmoil paired with safe musicSamuel Barber’s opera was calculated not to offend a 1950s audience fearful of genuinely modern musicFri Oct 28 2016 - 17:15
Herculanum review: all smoke, no fireFélicien David’s opera takes the explosion of Mt Vesuvius as its setting, but this production never manages to igniteThu Oct 27 2016 - 17:38
Michael Dervan: Time to do the right thing by Irish operaArts Council should use increased funding announced in the budget to address the needs of opera lovers and the professional opera communityFri Oct 21 2016 - 14:37
Hippolyte et Aricie Suite/Symphonie fantastique review: Masters of orchestral soundRAMEAU: HIPPOLYTE ET ARICIE SUITE; BERLIOZ: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUESwedish Radio SO/Daniel Harding ****Harmonia Mundi HMC 902244Wed Oct 19 2016 - 16:15
‘Composing the Island’ was a landmark and there is no going backThe event highlighting a neglected repertoire from Irish composers should happen every yearWed Oct 05 2016 - 06:00
Don Giovanni review: Roddy Doyle’s translation is sharp, singable and to the pointDublin Theatre Festival: Opera Theatre Company shifts the action from 16th-century Spain to Dublin now, and the audience engagement is palpableFri Sept 30 2016 - 12:30
Exceptional ‘Composing the Island’ surveys last 100 years of music in IrelandBiggest ever celebration of Irish composers ends at the National Concert HallWed Sept 28 2016 - 06:00
Composing the Island: Starting with the best works is never wiseThe celebration of 100 years of Irish composition hits mid-century, revealing a dark age for orchestral musicWed Sept 21 2016 - 01:00
Andrew Hamilton: ‘I used to get upset when people said my music was fun’When the composer was younger, he would get very annoyed when people laughed in concerts of his ‘playful music’ – but now he embraces that reputationTue Sept 20 2016 - 06:00
In praise of Composing the Island - lost Irish treasures unearthedThe festival unearthed fine compositions that were sadly neglected in the past 100 yearsWed Sept 14 2016 - 06:00
Opera funding seems arbitrary and unaccountableOpera has been particularly badly treated over the past 10 years and the latest reforms offer little hopeWed Sept 07 2016 - 01:00
George Gershwin - An American in Paris: a breath of fresh airGershwin: An American in Paris; Concerto in FLincoln Mayorga (piano), Harmonie Ensemble/New York/Steven RichmanHarmonia Mundi HMU 9076585Thu Sept 01 2016 - 15:32
Dutch orchestra assumes three identities for the price of oneThe Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Daniele Gatti delivered everything you could have asked forWed Aug 31 2016 - 01:00
The challenge of a lifetime: Schumann’s Cello ConcertoCellist Sol Gabetta, who will play with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Dublin, now appreciates why her teacher didn’t want her to learn the tricky concerto until she was 30Thu Aug 25 2016 - 06:00
One plan, one vote: the Dutch way of choosing a conductorThe Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra took a democratic path to choosing Daniele Gatti as chief conductorWed Aug 24 2016 - 01:00
Sergey Malov - Hommage à Paganini album review: the spirit of Paganini is alive and wellThu Aug 18 2016 - 15:30
The unusual final year of Mozart’s life gets an airing in KilkennyThe Mozart programme at Kilkenny Arts Festival featured compositions for mechanical organ and glass harmonicaWed Aug 17 2016 - 01:00
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies, Nos 1, 2, 5 – Royal Liverpool PO/Petrenko album reviewThu Aug 11 2016 - 10:52
Christian Blackshaw takes Mozart to places others cannot reachMozart is the focus of this year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival, and the English performer’s approach is unconventionalWed Aug 10 2016 - 01:00
James MacMillan - Since it was the day of Preparation album reviewJames MacMillan: Since it was the day of Preparation…Brindley Sherratt (bass), Synergy Vocals, Hebrides EnsembleDelphian DCD 341684Thu Aug 04 2016 - 15:30
Brexit poses major challenges for music performers and the publicYou might think that Brexit will not have much effect for music in Ireland. If onlyWed Aug 03 2016 - 01:00
Fabrizio Chiovetta (piano) - Bach: Keyboard Suites (BWV809, 825, 831) album reviewFabrizio Chiovetta (piano) - Bach: Keyboard Suites (BWV809, 825, 831)album reviewThu Jul 28 2016 - 09:46
