NCH, Dublin

Humperdinck

– Hansel and Gretel Prelude.

Mozart

– Sleighride.

Handel

– I Know that My Redeemer Liveth.

Tchaikovsky

– The Nutcracker (excs). Letter scene from Eugene Onegin.

Arnold

– The Holly and the Ivy.

Willcocks (arr)

– Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

This was the second of three lunchtime Christmas concerts presented by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. The programme was dominated by high-quality music; and when it was not obviously high, it was healthy and good-hearted.

The horns of the RTÉ NSO distinguished themselves in the opening of the Prelude to Humperdinck's impeccable children's opera Hansel and Gretel– an opening that is oh so beautiful, but so exposed that it leaves the players with nowhere to hide.

In Germany that opera is a Christmas piece just as much as The Nutcrackeris in Russia and elsewhere. It was good to hear strong, characterful playing in five excerpts from Tchaikovsky's vivid score.

A beautifully poised account of The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairywas a highlight among a sequence in which conductor David Brophy's pacing emphasised that this is music for dancing more than for orchestral display.

Sinéad Campbell sang two soprano solos, the first a limpidly beautiful account of Handel's I Know that My Redeemer Liveth, from Dublin's own Christmas piece, Messiah. She also gave a riveting account of the letter scene from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

In its subtle range of characterisation, this was a cracker – and a far better one than those you’ll find on your table next week.

A hale-and-hearty conclusion came in the form of Malcolm Arnold's bold, Holstian fantasia on Christmas carols, The Holly and the Ivy, and in David Willcocks's brass-band-style arrangement of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

The words were in the printed programme so, with some encouragement from David Brophy, a good time was had by all. See nch.ie for more on its Christmas programme of events.