I prefer the early stuff: West Cork Chamber Music Festival goes back in timeThe early-music strand of this sprawling festival is substantial enough to bear comparison with specialised events elsewhereWed Jul 02 2014 - 01:00
Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonata in G; Romanze; Aveu Passionné; Scharwenka: Sonata No 2; Im Freien (exc)Fri Jun 27 2014 - 00:00
A west Cork journey from milking parlour to music chamberHow did Francis Humphrys go from farming to developing his labour of love, West Cork Chamber Music Festival?Thu Jun 26 2014 - 01:00
A bit of electrical hum is no skin off Alvin Lucier’s noseAt Dundalk Gaol, the experimental composer doesn’t flinch, allowing the problems to run their courseWed Jun 25 2014 - 01:00
Julian Bliss (clarinet), Bradley Moore (piano): Debussy, Françaix, Glinka, Milhaud, ProkofievFri Jun 20 2014 - 00:00
Brainwaves and other strange sounds from Alvin Lucier’s labThe composer long ago came to view the institution of the orchestra as alien to an American sensibility. Now he is bringing his experimental sounds to Dundalk GaolThu Jun 19 2014 - 18:23
Killaloe Music Festival lets its hair down with a pared-back approachSt Flannan’s is a challenging acoustic for musicians; here their solution is an energetic approachWed Jun 18 2014 - 01:00
Review: The Rise and Fall of the City of MahagonnyThe singers give it all their worth in this production; spreading it throughout the venue proves attractive and frustratingSat Jun 14 2014 - 21:55
How the drug-like voice of Lotte Lenya led me to Kurt WeillI discovered many of Weill’s works by following the trail of his tremulous-toned wifeWed Jun 11 2014 - 01:00
The Magic Flute in a circus makes for a frustrating experience in LismoreThe looseness of the ensemble and problems with co-ordination proved largely insurmountableWed Jun 04 2014 - 01:00
Opera houses survive, even thrive, despite Boulez’s pessimismOpera repertoire has broadened since the French composer’s 1967 comments, and ‘The Invader’ continues a fine recent tradition of new opera in IrelandWed May 28 2014 - 01:00
NCH rows: stop the squabbling and focus on the fundamentalsDisputes at the top level of the NCH are overshadowing more immediate concerns at the ground levelWed May 21 2014 - 01:00
Brahms: String Quartet in A Minor; Clarinet Quintet, Michael Collins (clarinet), Brodsky QuartetFri May 16 2014 - 00:00
The fireworks and the finer points of ‘Nixon in China’John Adams’s first opera, which had its premiere in 1987 but has just landed in Dublin, is full of ideasWed May 14 2014 - 09:15
Political overtures: Nixon boards another flight to ChinaComposer John Adams ‘didn’t really know’ what he was doing when he wrote his first opera – that hasn’t stopped ‘Nixon in China’, which does exactly what it says on its musical tin, travelling around the worldFri May 09 2014 - 01:00
Aosdána is not perfect, but does anybody have a better idea?If Aosdána is a broken tool, the situation it was set up to remedy is still a broken situationWed May 07 2014 - 01:00
Mlynarski: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Zarzycki: Introduction et Cracovienne; Mazurka in GFri May 02 2014 - 00:00
All mod cons: a rebuilt Maynooth organ passes its first testThe personality of the ‘new’ Ruffatti organ at St Patrick’s College chapel is suave, full, luxuriant and finely balancedWed Apr 30 2014 - 01:00
The low-down on Lang Lang and how China will change musicThe most frequently quoted number for piano students in China is 50 million. The implications are hugeWed Apr 23 2014 - 01:00
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas in A Flat Op 110; in C minor Op 111; in F Minor Op 57 (Appassionata)Fri Apr 18 2014 - 00:00
