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
Koanga review: An opera that promises but never deliversThe cast struggle to make an impression in an opera that never gets off the groundFri Oct 23 2015 - 16:40
WFO review – Guglielmo Ratcliff: A dream-like tale of doomed loveThe ghosts of the deceased mingle on stage with the living in a production that moulds Mascagni’s opera into a fascinating wholeFri Oct 23 2015 - 14:31
Five varied pieces stitched into the New Ross musical tapestryThe second year of the Ros Tapestry Suite saw top-notch piano performances of five commissioned compositionsTue Sept 29 2015 - 16:24
Dennis Russell Davies: ‘The trick is to give the composers a chance’The conductor has done it all and is marked out by the strength of his commitment to new musicMon Sept 28 2015 - 06:00
Netherlands Radio PO/Jaap van Zweden: Bruckner – Symphony No 1 | Album ReviewBruckner: Symphony No 1 (Linz version)Netherlands Radio PO/Jaap van ZwedenChallenge Classics CC 725564Fri Sept 25 2015 - 00:00
Lack of consistency continues to dog the RTÉ NSOLang Lang takes a strict approach to consistency – so is two out of three acceptable when it comes to a concert?Wed Sept 23 2015 - 06:00
Agrippina: Scheming, betrayal and cleavage make for a great evening | Opera reviewHandel’s first great opera is a comic piece about a serious subjectThu Sept 10 2015 - 12:04
Wexford Festival Opera reshuffles its 2016 calendarOrganisers have had to change schedule for next year’s event after failing to secure venuesWed Sept 09 2015 - 06:00
Schumann: Piano Concerto, Piano Trio No 2 | Album ReviewSchumann: Piano Concerto; Piano Trio No 2Alexander Melnikov (piano), Freiburger Barockorchester/Pablo Heras-Casado, Isabelle Faust (violin), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello)Harmonia Mundi HMC 902198 (plus DVD)4Fri Sept 04 2015 - 00:00
The oldest orchestra in the world? That’s a fuzzy notionThe Bergen Philharmonic, which is certainly one of the oldest, played with great character in its Irish debutWed Sept 02 2015 - 06:00
Andreas Staier/Frieburger Barockorchester: Bach – Harpsichord Concertos | Album ReviewFri Aug 28 2015 - 00:00
Conducting the Bergen: ‘You’re a little bit traffic cop, a little bit Rasputin’Andrew Litton, who is in Dublin for one of his final appearances as conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, explains the job he has obsessed about since the age of 10Thu Aug 27 2015 - 06:00
Three global orchestras make Irish debuts in new concert season | ClassicalThe new season is strong on singing and orchestral debuts, and composers from Sibelius to MahlerWed Aug 26 2015 - 06:00
The mysteries of Bach unwrapped at Kilkenny Arts FestivalKilkenny’s 10-day immersion in Bach was a box-office success and provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunityWed Aug 19 2015 - 06:00
Wartime Consolations: Linus Roth | Album ReviewWartime ConsolationsLinus Roth (violin), Württemberg CO Heilbronn/Ruben Gazarian, José Gallardo (piano)Challenge Classics CC 736804Fri Aug 14 2015 - 00:00
A bumpy journey through Bach masterpieces at Kilkenny Arts FestivalA performance of JS Bach’s Mass in B Minor was the real highlight of the arts festival’s first weekendWed Aug 12 2015 - 01:00
‘Bach demands that you give it the best part of yourself’This year the Kilkenny Arts Festival’s music strand focuses on the great composer. Here, five renowned interpreters reflect on his workThu Aug 06 2015 - 06:00
Out on a Lim: the crazy abandon of a Korean maverickClassical music: The problem with HJ Lim’s in-your-face style is that, when nothing is normal, you can get to the point where nothing is abnormal eitherWed Aug 05 2015 - 01:00
Donnacha Dennehy: ‘I thought opera was a ridiculous art form’Happily, the composer has got over his anxieties, and his second collaboration with Enda Walsh, ‘The Last Hotel’, is shaping up to be a non-stop 80-minute roller coaster rideTue Aug 04 2015 - 05:00
Diabelli’s Variations and the Hugh Lane’s mysterious moving pianoThe original theme lacked grandeur, but such portmanteaus can be a source of creativityWed Jul 29 2015 - 01:00
Total recall: musical feats of memoryThe intriguing role of memory in musical performance has been a hot topic latelyWed Jul 22 2015 - 01:00
After their rift, maybe it’s time RTÉ and Kees Bakels made upAn NCH concert hinted at what might have been had the plans of the 1990s not unravelledWed Jul 15 2015 - 01:00
Christian Blackshaw: Mozart: Piano Sonatas Volume 3 | Album ReviewMozart: Piano Sonatas Vol 3 Christian BlackshawWigmore Hall Live WHLive 0076/2 (2 CDs)4Thu Jul 09 2015 - 11:30
West Cork Chamber Music Festival searches for a new Bantry homeThe festival needs its own dedicated venue, and its director’s pursuit of one might be about to bear fruitWed Jul 08 2015 - 01:00
Dvorak: New World Symphony; Varèse: Amériques Seattle Symphony/ Ludovic Morlot | ReviewDvorak: New World Symphony; Varèse: AmériquesSeattle Symphony/Ludovic MorlotSeattle Symphony Media SSM 10065Fri Jul 03 2015 - 00:00
The gloss and gutsiness of West Cork Chamber Music FestivalIn Bantry, musical depth was lost in the Cremona Quartet’s approach, whereas Alina Ibragimova did Bach justiceWed Jul 01 2015 - 01:00
Valery Gergiev: Ninth Symphony and First Violin Concerto by Shostakovich| Album ReviewShostakovich: Symphony No 9; Violin Concerto No 1Leonidas Kavakos (violin), Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery GergievMariinsky MAR 05243Fri Jun 26 2015 - 00:00
‘You can never be relaxed’: the Borodin Quartet’s high wire actThe Russian quartet have been performing in various incarnations for 70 years, which is no mean feat: it isn’t easy to find new players who can keep up with the demandsThu Jun 25 2015 - 03:00
The devil in the detail of RTÉ’s orchestral cutbacksA heavily redacted report on RTÉ’s orchestras gives the lie to the Government’s claims about transparencyWed Jun 24 2015 - 01:00
A Yeatsian balancing act between music and wordsYeats might well have appreciated the wordiness of William Brooks’s Everlasting Voices, which revisits the poet’s ideals of ‘chaunting’Wed Jun 17 2015 - 01:00
The spine-tingling gift of Dundalk mezzo soprano Tara ErraughtHaving silenced a clutch of male critics, Erraught showed she has the X factor on stage at the NCHWed Jun 10 2015 - 01:00
The unpredictable sounds of an American Wolff in DundalkThe composer Christian Wolff, of the New York School, was central to a memorable night in LouthWed Jun 03 2015 - 01:00
Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Britten Sinfonia/James MacMillan: Vaughan Williams, MacMillan – Oboe Concertos | Album ReviewWed May 27 2015 - 18:27
Is the Dublin International Piano Competition lagging behind?The technical standard at this year’s competition has been high, but other shortcomings have become apparentWed May 27 2015 - 01:00
