Oberon Overture - Weber

Tzigane - Ravel

Peer Gynt Suite No 1 - Grieg

Finlandia - Sinbelius

Tuesday's lunchtime orchestral concert was the occasion of a double debut. Making their first NCH concert appearances with the RTE Concert Orchestra were the German-trained Cork conductor Peter Shannon and the Dutch violinist Gwendolyn Masin (daughter of the DIT Conservatory of Music's violin professor, Ronald Masin).

Shannon lacks nothing in confidence. His choice of Weber's Oberon Overture was a brave one, and the orchestra's horns (on good form throughout the programme) rose well to the particular challenges presented by the piece.

The directness of his conducting, exciting in full flight, avoided subtlety in negotiating tempo changes and didn't always take account of the superior weight of this orchestra's brass section when pitted against a string section limited by numbers - in this regard he rather overplayed Sibelius's Finlandia.

Shannon seems not to be a man to have his head easily turned by charm - witness the forced motion of Grieg's Morning Mood or the muted harmonic glow of The death of Ase. On the other hand, he relished the colouristic opportunities of Tzigane, where the assured Gwendolyn Masin brought a thoughtful intelligence to bear on Ravel's fauxgipsy fantasia.

Shannon may not have been the kindest of accompanists, but there was enough character in evidence from the two musicians to suggest that Irish audiences will be hearing much more from both of them.