Centenary concerts neglect to take the revolutionary roadMichael Dervan: Two evenings of music and words as part of Ireland 2016 got me thinking about the links that were missedWed Apr 06 2016 - 01:00
Taverner Choir and Players - Western Wind: a well-pointed performance with bracing soprano linesThu Mar 31 2016 - 15:30
The Kevin Barry room gets ready for some fresh experimentationThe NCH room - where the Treaty debates were held - has had a revamp. Will this fix the acoustic problems?Wed Mar 30 2016 - 01:00
Jörg Widmann fights the Round Room – with some successThe Irish Chamber Orchestra’s second attempt at taming the Mansion House room’s intractable acoustic brought some progressWed Mar 23 2016 - 01:00
Angela Gheorghiu might be high-maintenance but she’s worth itShe is sometimes said to live up to the prima donna billing, but after a cautious start she shone at the NCHWed Mar 16 2016 - 01:00
Brook Street Band-Handel; Trio Sonatas: familiar vocal lines that are lively and affectingThu Mar 10 2016 - 17:40
Mixed-and-matched Mozart in a blast from the concert pastFreiburger Barockorchester pay no heed to modern approaches to concert structuresWed Mar 09 2016 - 01:00
Elena Xanthoudakis, Jason Xanthoudakis, Clemens Leske - The Captive Nightingale: Schubert in context of neglected worksThu Mar 03 2016 - 20:30
Not fade away: which classical pieces are most popular?A lucky few can follow their favourite groups and repertoires around the world. The rest of us have to take our chances when we canWed Mar 02 2016 - 01:00
Trio Wanderer - Brahms Piano Trio in B (1854 version)Brahms: Piano Trio in B Op 8; Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60Christophe Gaugué (viola), Trio WandererHarmonia Mundi HMC 9022224Thu Feb 25 2016 - 15:30
Brave young pianist Nathalia Milstein is a work in progressDespite the clear skill of last year’s Dublin International Piano Competition winner, something was missing at a recent concertWed Feb 24 2016 - 01:00
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola - Bach: Sonatas and Partitas: a darkening of tone that takes some getting used toThu Feb 18 2016 - 15:30
Freiburger orchestra monkeys around with MozartThe Freiburger Barockorchester will usher in a new order at their NCH concertThu Feb 18 2016 - 06:00
The sound reasons why orchestras have avoided the Round RoomThe Irish Chamber Orchestra has moved to the Mansion House’s Round Room, and there are challenges to overcomeWed Feb 17 2016 - 01:00
Jack Liebeck - Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1: makes sure nothing sounds fadedBruch: Violin Concerto No 1; Romance; SerenadeJack Liebeck (violin), BBC Scottish SO/Martyn BrabbinsHyperion CDA 680604Thu Feb 11 2016 - 16:31
How Stravinsky put the world to ritesThe Russian, a giant among 20th century composers, deserved an NCH showcase of his distinctive styleWed Feb 10 2016 - 01:00
An Egyptian soprano adds to the great variety of Irish competition winnersIs there a gender or national bias in our high-profile music competitions? Sorry, conspiracy theorists, but noWed Feb 03 2016 - 01:00
Courtney Lewis serves up an energetic slice of HaydnThe conductor and the RTÉ NSO show Haydn a good time; and Ó Riada’s score for Mise Éire leaves me coldWed Jan 27 2016 - 01:00
Howard Shelley/Ulster Orchestra - Steibelt: Piano Concertos: brilliance trumps lyricismSteibelt: Piano Concertos Nos 3, 5, 7Ulster Orchestra/Howard Shelley (piano)Hyperion CDA 681043Fri Jan 22 2016 - 06:00
Winners and losers in Arts Council’s absurd festival grants schemeTwo long-standing music series lose out as new events hit the jackpot, but the lack of continuity from year to year is mind-bogglingWed Jan 20 2016 - 01:00
'If you learn how to breathe properly, you learn how to sing'Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Dunne began teaching in 1962. At 88 her passion is still obvious and she is alarmingly direct in her opinions about what it takes to be a singerThu Jan 14 2016 - 06:00
Pierre Boulez thrilled the adventurous and appalled the conservativeBoulez was the last of a great avant-garde line. But was Gilbert Kaplan, another conductor who died last week, just faking it?Wed Jan 13 2016 - 06:00
Conductor Courtney Lewis: ‘I didn’t want the lonely existence of staring at a blank page’The Belfast man studied at Cambridge with the goal of becoming a composer, but the lure of conducting led him to a rewarding career in the USTue Jan 12 2016 - 06:00
Scriabin - Symphonies 3 and 4: Even sceptics may find it hard not to be swept alongValery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra concentrate on the big pictureFri Jan 08 2016 - 00:00
The music scene in 1916: noise, jazz and John McCormackThat was the scene internationally, but what would a Dublin music lover have had to choose from?Wed Jan 06 2016 - 01:00
Classical music: Playing outside the pit can broaden your horizonsOrchestra members fulfil vital extracurricular functions such as providing music education and road-testing new musicWed Dec 23 2015 - 01:00
Michael Dervan’s 2015: Lucky in our promoters who go with the gutWe are lucky to have a number of Irish promoters whose taste and empathy for the audience’s experience set them apartSat Dec 19 2015 - 05:00
Javier Perianes, Cuarteto Quiroga - Granados & Turina: The performances present both works in the best lightGranados: Piano Quintet; Turina: Piano Quintet; CaliopeJavier Perianes (piano), Cuarteto QuirogaHarmonia Mundi HMC 9022264Fri Dec 18 2015 - 00:00
Belfast opera director lands a tricky new job in NorwayNorway’s top opera job is being taken up by Annilese Miskimmon. The post comes with its own dramatic historyWed Dec 16 2015 - 01:00
Apollo’s Fire - Christmas Vespers: Music of Michael Praetorius: Homeliness, heart and plenty of sparkleFri Dec 11 2015 - 00:00
Classical music: The Arts Council allows a crisis to go to wasteTimes have been hard, but the decision to cut funding to three musical organisations is unnecessarily damagingWed Dec 09 2015 - 01:00
Simon Smith - Valentin Silvestrov Piano Sonatas: The music seems to have floated through a time machineValentin Silvestrov: Piano SonatasSimon SmithDelphian DCD 341514Fri Dec 04 2015 - 00:00
Dublin has never had the contemporary music festival it deservesNew Music Dublin has suffered numerous abuses in its short life and has been postponed for 2016. Can it be fixed?Wed Dec 02 2015 - 01:00
Kirill Karabits - Prokofiev’s Symphonies: expressively judicious and sonically refinedThu Nov 26 2015 - 18:20
A vision of home that has few ideas for classical musicOnly one living Irish composer is part of the NCH’s seven-concert series for the 1916 centenaryWed Nov 25 2015 - 01:00
Houston Chamber Choir/Robert Simpson/Sarah Rothenberg: Rothko Chapel – Album ReviewRothko Chapel Houston Chamber Choir/Robert Simpson, Sarah Rothenberg (piano)ECM New Series 481 17964Fri Nov 20 2015 - 00:00
Michael Dervan: What my undercover stint as a woman taught me about sexismMany years ago I wrote about music for a while under a female pseudonym. It was a real eye-openerWed Nov 18 2015 - 01:00
Muscular chamber orchestra delivers Brahms without the dadbodThe Swedish Chamber Orchestra offered an alternative to ‘stouter’ performances of Brahms's second symphonyWed Nov 11 2015 - 01:00
Shocks in store from Gerald Barry while NI Opera dictates the paceNI Opera’s ‘Turandot’ is stunning, while Leif Ove Andsnes enjoys stint at the NCHWed Nov 04 2015 - 01:00
Alexej Gorlatch, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin: Stravinsky – Works for Piano and Orchestra - Album ReviewFri Oct 30 2015 - 00:00
The peculiar situation of a national opera house in WexfordThe renaming of Wexford Opera House is odd: what’s fine for a festival does not necessarily make sense for a national institutionWed Oct 28 2015 - 06:00
Wexford Festival Opera review – Le Pré aux Clercs: A bit on the sweet sideCharm and sentiment dominate in a story of multiple marriages in 16th-century FranceTue Oct 27 2015 - 17:01
Wexford Festival Opera review – Le Pré aux clercs: An entertainment of sweet convictionCharm and sentiment dominate in a story of multiple marriages – forced, mixed, secret, or not – in 16th-century FranceTue Oct 27 2015 - 13:37
