This year celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of French composer Maurice Ravel. Born in the Basque country very close to its border with Spain on March 7, 1875, Ravel died in Paris on December 28, 1937. His mother was also Basque with his father coming from Switzerland. The family was culturally rich, with…
Dancing with Time, by José María R. Olaizola SJ (€14.95 / 12.95) When this book first came into my hands, the title brought to mind at once Anthony Powell’s twelve volume novel A Dance to the Music of Time (1951-1975) concerning the continually shifting and ever interacting aspects of the life of a Welsh…
In today’s diverse and scattered media landscape it’s rare to find a programme that everybody is talking about. Adolescence (Netflix) has bucked the trend, with its grim tale of a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a female classmate. It’s dark stuff for sure, but relevant considering news stories of children murdering children. We surely have…
Viva la Poesia!, edited by Antonio Spadaro SJ (Edizioni Ares Rome, €18.50); an English language version for the international market is due soon. While the Pope was recovering during his recent stay in hospital yet another new book bearing his name appeared in the book shops of Rome. Entitled Long Live Poetry! it focuses on…
The release of Seong-ho Jay Hang’s The King of Kings (PG) makes perfect timing for Easter. Telling the story of Christ in animated form through the voices of household names like Oscar Isaac, Kenneth Branagh and Uma Thurman, it has Charles Dickens, of all people, as the narrator. Many people won’t be aware that Dickens…
The Sorrow and the Loss: The Tragic Shadow Cast by the Troubles on the Lives of Women, by Martin Dillon (Merrion Press, €19.99 / £15.50). This book provides an account of the grief, sorrow, hurt and tragedy visited on women by the so-called ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Reading it brought to mind those scenes…
Anyone wishing to understand the nature of Canada as a nation could well begin that exploration by first making a visit to our own National Museum in Dublin. There in Kildare Street there is to be seen among the select moments and events in our long island history, a lavish display dealing with the Irish…
Paul Durcan at 80 edited by Niall McMonagle, with an introduction by Colm Tóibín (Harvill Secker, £16.99 / 19.99hb) Thomas McCarthy Paul Durcan was born in Dublin in 1944 into a legal family with Co. Mayo connections. Educated at Gonzaga and UCC, he has become the leading poet of his generation, a former Ireland Professor…
Laurence O’Toole, Dublin’s Own Special Saint The Latin Lives of St Laurence of Dublin edited with critical introduction by Maurice F. Roche (Four Courts Press, € 45) Catherine Swift St Laurence O’Toole is the patron saint of Dublin Archdiocese and, quite apart from the churches which are dedicated to him, such as North Wall,…
For a number of years now the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus have performed one or other of Bach’s Passions on Good Friday afternoon at the National Concert Hall. This year brings something a little different in the form of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s setting of the passion section of the Gospel of St John.…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone