Following Gluck’s death in November 1787, Emperor Joseph II appointed Mozart as imperial and royal court composer. Among his formal duties the composer was expected to provide music for court balls and other such state occasions and, to fit the bill, Mozart supplied over 30 minuets and German dances in a relatively short time. However,…
Earlier in the year, I mentioned 2023 being the sesquicentenary of the birth of Sergey Rakhmaninov in Semyonovo in Russia. While anniversary performances of his music take place in a number of venues, there will be a major celebration on Friday May 26 when the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus end their 2022/23 series of…
Last Saturday Irish National Opera began a nationwide tour of Massenet’s Werther. Opening in An Grianán in Letterkenny, it proceeded to Navan’s Solstice Arts Centre and then Galway’s Town Hall Theatre, where it is tonight, Thursday April 27. Werther’s next port of call is Limerick’s Lime Tree Theatre on Saturday 29, followed by Dundalk’s An…
Two weeks ago, there was a significant celebration in the National Concert Hall as March 30 marked the 100th birthday of the doyenne of our musicians, Sheila Larchet-Cuthbert. Invited guests, including yours truly, gathered in the John Field Room for chat and refreshments before moving into the auditorium where the NSO had just completed its…
Recently reminiscing on my time on the council of the now defunct Music Association of Ireland, I recalled qualms being raised about engaging cellists for the association’s members’ meetings and country tours. A cry would go up “cellists don’t draw”. However, two recent events at the National Concert Hall proved otherwise. A solo recital by…
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) celebrated its 75th birthday last month with its NCH concert repeated the following evening in Waterford’s SETU Arena. The events were not without administrative difficulties when original conductor Jonathon Heyward, falling victim to Covid-19, was forced to withdraw. However, stepping in at short notice, his replacement, dynamic Chinese Lio Kuokman,…
This month celebrates the 75th anniversary of the establishment in 1948 of the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra (RÉSO), renamed the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) from January 1, 1990. 1948 also brought the foundation of the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra (RÉLO) – a body of 22 musicians with its own agenda but would supplement the larger…
Following the ever-versatile RTÉ Concert Orchestra to the National Concert Hall under Japanese conductor Kensho Watanabe, I was surprised to see a notice in the foyer indicating that programmes for the concert could only be obtained by placing one’s mobile phone against it and taking a snapshot. I never bring my mobile to the NCH…
While the National Symphony Orchestra saluted 2023 at the National Concert Hall (NCH) with a programme of Viennese and other bon bons on New Year’s Day, it later returned to its 2022/23 Subscription Series with Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella ballet. The latter dates from 1919 around the start of what is…
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sergey Rakhmaninov’s birth in 1873, the National Symphony Orchestra is scheduling a number of his works in late spring. These include his Paganini Rhapsody on May 5, Second Piano Concerto on May 12 and choral masterpiece The Bells, preceded by his tone poem The Isle of the Dead, on May…