Good Friday - Belfast: 10-498 - Gerry Murphy

Piano Concerto No 1 - Gerry Murphy

Concerto for Two Pianos K365 - Mozart

THE Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra played at the National Concert Hall last Monday night, for Gonzaga College's Golden Jubilee concert. In 1997 the college's head of music, Gerry Murphy, began a collaboration with the MPO and conductor Jiri Mikula. Since then the MPO has given the premieres of several of Murphy's pieces, including the two on this programme, and has made several recordings in the Vienna Modern Masters series.

Good Friday - Belfast: 10-4-98 celebrates the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement, and is, the composer says, `a bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously.' One hardly could. Traditional melodies are altered and put together almost regardless of their fit, and symphonic progress in the manner of the 1812 Overture - a comparison with which the composer does not demur - is scarcely an issue.

An equally cheerful collage technique, though of a different kind, is seen in the Piano Concerto No. 1, which was completed last year. In its three movements styles jostle - Bartok-like counterpoint in the first minutes, reminiscences of Sibelius later - and the piano pits into the scrum as a reckless protagonist.

The soloist was Finghin Collins, one of Gerry Murphy's former pupils. His authoritative and committed playing was all any composer could have hoped for. The MPO and Jiri Mikula specialise in new music, and while the sound is not always strong on finesse, their rhythmically alert, expressively defined playing was impressive, especially in the encore, a Dvorak Slavonic Dance.

In Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos K365, Finghin Collins was joined by another former pupil, Hugh Tinney. They were two peas in a pod, yet individual. It was an engaging, robust performance from them and the orchestra - a reminder that this music was written by a true virtuoso.