Relatively soon after the re-unification of Germany in 1990 I made my first visit to Dresden, capital of the eastern state of Saxony. Although part of a group I extricated myself to attend two performances at the city’s famous Semper Opera House – Wagner’s Tannhäuser, which had its première in the Semper in 1845 and…

Ask anyone to name a few Mozart operas and they will, most likely, respond correctly with The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. There are of course several others not least Idomeneo, first produced in Munich on January 28, 1781. It had considerable success then and remains a marvellous, if overshadowed, piece.…

A recent phone call from pianist Darina Gibson invited me to a recital in the NCH’s John Field Room being given by RTÉ NSO flautist Sinéad Farrell and herself. As their principally French programme looked enticing I gladly accepted the invitation. The evening began with Bach’s B minor Flute Sonata where the opening Andante found…

No doubt the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (NYOI) is already planning its courses and programmes for its golden jubilee next year. Founded in 1970 by the intrepid Olive Smith (often mischievously but endearingly referred to as ‘Granny’ Smith by the teenage players) and the Dublin-born, London-based violinist Hugh Maguire, who was also NYOI’s conductor…

I had the good fortune to interview Leonard Cohen in 1988 when he was promoting his I’m Your Man album. During the course of the interview he told me Marianne Ihlen, a Norwegian woman he met on the Greek island of Hydra during the 1960s, was the love of his life. At the Irish Film…