RTE National Symphony Orchestra

Some really good concerts coming up at the NCH from the RTE National Symphony Orchestra. On Fri 7 Oct Lithuanian violinist/violist Julian Rachlin, who started his concert career at the tender age of ten, doubles (or should that be trebles) up as conductor in Hindemith’s Trauermusik for viola and strings and Beethoven’s wonderful Violin Concerto, along with Mozart’s Symphony No 35, the Haffner. The NSO step off-schedule on Tue 11 with a 6.30pm concert featuring Bruch’s dramatic Violin Concerto, with the brilliant Catherine Leonard as soloist, and Mahler’s monumental Tragic Symphony No 6. Carl Orff’s ever-popular Carmina Burana is the main focus on Fri 14, with Gerhard Markson conducting the RTE Philharmonic Choir and Cor na nOg, but there’s also the chance to hear Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds, with Hugh Tinney on the piano. NSO principal clarinettist John Finucane takes up the baton on Fri 21 for music from the Napoleonic era including Beethoven’s Wellington’s Victory and Symphony No 7, and he’s also the soloist in Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No 1. Look out too for RTE Big Music Week, of which more anon. www.rte.ie

Brad Mehldau

Well whadya know – you go away for a couple of weeks and before you know it it’s September and those grey clouds you were fleeing suddenly turn out to have some very inviting silver linings. Shows from Note Productions includes the amazing jazz pianist Brad Mehldau in a solo show at the NCH on Wed 14, one man and a piano conjuring up a density and richness of sound that morphs from original compositions to his very idiosyncratic take on genre-bending tunes, from My Favourite Things to Kurt Cobain’s Lithium on his latest live album. Not to be missed. Note are also presenting Iarla O Lionaird at the Sugar Club on Fri 16 as part of launch tour for his latest album Foxlight. www.note.ie

Summer in the Symphony

The RTE National Symphony Orchestra get busy for the summer with Tue lunchtime and Fri evening concerts at the NCH. Lunchtime fare includes a nice mix of Berlioz, Faure, Saint-Saens and a taste of a Haydn Cello Concerto on Tue 28, all under the baton of Principal Conductor Alan Buribayev. Strauss’s Blue Danube and Tchaikvosky’s Swan Lake share the stage with bluegrass fiddle music on 5 July. There’s Ravel and Bizet on Tue 12; Balfe, Butterworth and Bernstein on Tue 19 with soprano Katy Kelly; and Weber’s Bassoon Concerto on Tue 26. On Fri 1 July there’s a rare opportunity to hear Stanford’s 2nd Piano Concerto with soloist Finghin Collins, along with Tchaikovsky’s dramatic 5th Symphony. Other evening concerts include Operatic Favourites with South African soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon on Fri 8; the Great American Songbook on Fri 15; lyric fm’s Listeners Favourites on Fri 22; and the slightly dubious Symphonic Rock on Fri 29.

www.rte.ie/nationalsymphonyorchestra

Short & Sweet

Over the past while I’ve come to realise that despite my best intentions, life has a habit of intervening in my blogging schedule, so for the next few months I’m going to keep things short and sweet – basic info and a link. But remember, if it’s on the blog it’s worth checking out.So here goes:

Sundays@ Noon at the Hugh Lane Gallery is a definite must for any city dweller. Free music in a fab gallery, what more could you want? On Sun 19 you can hear pianist Finghin Collins, currently associate artist with the NSO, playing Beethoven and Debussy, and on Sun 26 contemporary music group Concorde team up with acclaimed violist Garth Knox for The Viola: A Wild Beast Unleashed, 5 new compositions by Irish composers inspired by the afore-mentioned Knox. www.hughlane.ie

And in the same venue for a small fee, on Sat 18 @3pm you can here the National Chamber Choir under the baton of the brilliant Paul Hillier singing music by Brahms and his early music influences including the likes of Gabrieli and Palestrina. www.nationalchamberchoir.com

A new cross-arts project Movement of Sound is at the Backloft on June 19, a collaboration between Karen Power (composer / live electronics), Mary Nunan (dancer and choreographer), Deirdre O’Leary (clarinet/ bass clarinet) and Kate Ellis (cello), featuring Irish premiers by international composers; Saariaho, Tiensuu and Hyla. And speaking of the Backloft, there’s a free concert on Fri 10 @7pm featuring RawClassico aka soprano Frances Marshall and classical guitarist John Feeley, a combination of Italian arias and Celtic repertoire, all arranged by Feeley.

www.thebackloft.blogspot.com

Some good stuff coming up at Art Polonia’s Centre for Creative Practice, where you can indulge in everything from jazz, flamenco, electro-acoustic, experimental music performance, folk music, storytelling, documentaries and a German movie night. Check out their website @ www.artpolonia.org

Popular French-based pianist Ivan Ilic is back again at the NCH’s John Field Room for a lunchtime recital on Fri 24 June, including his own arrangements of French songs by Debussy, Fauré, and Ernest Chausson, as well as two rarely-heard works from 1930 by Ravel and Godowsky. www.nch.ie

Next show into the Gate Theatre is Brian Friel’s thought-provoking exploration of personal identity Molly Sweeney, which had its premiere there some 15 years ago. Previewing from Thur 23 and opening on Tue 28 June, this new production is directed by Patrick Mason and features Dawn Bradfield, Michael Byrne and Peter Hanly. www.gatetheatre.ie

At Project til Sat 18 June, Loose Canon return to their Shakespearian roots with their take on A Midsummer Night's Dream? (note that question mark). As they so eloquently put it, “Is it about fairies and pixies and the course of true love not running smoothly? Or is it about getting f*cked off your face – so f*cked off your face that you end up f*cking a donkey?” Sounds like some party. www.projectartscentre.ie

Gorecki's Last Songs

The long-established award-winning Silesian Quartet from Poland commemorate the recent death of their fellow countryman, the celebrated Polish composer Henryk Mikołaj Gorecki with a concert at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room on Sat 12 March. They play two of his chart-topping string quartets written for the Kronos Quartet in the 1990s: No 1 Already it is dusk, and No 3 …songs are sung, completed in 1995 but not premiered until 10 years later. The concert is sponsored by ArtPolonia and the Polish Embassy. www.nch.ie

Tapestry Unravelled

Carole King's seminal 1971 album Tapestry is celebrated in a concert presented by Improvised Music Company at the NCH’s John Field Room on Thur 13 Jan. Tapestry Unravelled features soulful London-based Irish chanteuse Christine Tobin, winner of a 2008 BBC Jazz Award, and UK jazz pianist Liam Noble, an acclaimed master of colour and harmony. www.improvisedmusic.ie www.nch.ie

New Horizons

Free contemporary music concerts at the NCH? That’s the NSO’s annual Horizons series of lunchtime concerts, which start on Tue 11 Jan with the world premiere of Kevin O’Connell’s large scale Symphony. On Tue 18 there’s another chance to hear David Fennessy’s Bodies along with James MacMillan’s ...as others see us… The focus is on Piers Hellawell on Tue 22 Feb, including Agricolas, his 2008 concerto for clarinet and orchestra performed by Robert Plane. Philip Hammond’s 60th birthday is celebrated on 10 May with a programme that spans the past 30 years. And there’s another world premiere on 17 May, with Jerome de Bromhead’s first Violin Concerto. You can hear the Composers in Conversation, presented by the Contemporary Music Centre, before each concert. www.rte.ie/nationalsymphonyorchestra www.cmc.ie

Happy New Year with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra!

There’s some cracking concerts coming up from the NSO at the NCH this month. On Fri 7 the dazzling young Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang is the soloist in Rodrigo’s magnificent Concierto de Aranjuez, as well as giving the first Irish performance of Stephen Goss’s Albéniz Concerto. More from sunny Espana in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and da Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat, with mezzo Fiona Murphy. And all will be revealed in a discussion/demonstration with Xuefei Yang at 7pm. On Fri 14 trombonist Christian Lindberg doubles up as director and soloist, with Jason Sinclair, in Jan Sandstrom’s Echoes of Eternity for two trombones and orchestra; there’s also music by Weber and Sibelius, and Lindberg features again in a late night Trombone recital with music by Lindberg and Cage – admission €5 or free with the evening concert ticket. Dvorak and Haydn on Fri 21, with NSO principal clarinetist John Finucane in the former’s Serenade for Winds and Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey in the latter’s Cello Concertos in C and D. Wispelwey turns up again in the late night recital with Bach’s Suite No 2 in D minor for solo cello. On Fri 28 Gerhard Markson conducts Bruckner’s massive Symphony No 8 in C minor, followed by a late night recital of Beethoven’s Piano Quintet in E flat featuring Finghin Collins and the RTE NSO Principal Winds. Excellent stuff, and as if that wasn’t enough the free lunchtime Horizons series kicks off on Tue 11 Jan – more of that anon. www.rte.ie/nationalsymphonyorchestra www.nch.ie

Harping on

The Irish Composers Collective are in the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room on Thur 21 Oct with a concert focusing on the harp. Renowned harpist Anne-Marie O'Farrell will present new works for both classical and lever harps by Johanne Heraty, Daniel Barkley, Marc Tweedie, Piaras Hoban and Hugh Boyle, while Ian McDonnell will premiere an electronic work with material derived directly from the harp itself. A pre-concert talk looks at Traditional Instruments in Contemporary Composition. www.nch.ie

RTE National Symphony Orchestra

There’s some tasty concerts coming up from the RTE NSO when they start their new season at the NCH on Fri 10 Sept. The opening concert kicks off with Jump Up!, a welcoming Fanfare for new Principal Conductor Alan Buribayev, and features acclaimed pianist Simon Trpceski in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 4. Fri 17 has a Latin American flavour, with accordionist James Crabb playing Piazzolla’s Concierto de Aconcagua, and there’s also Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. A new late night short concert slot (10pm) sees James Crabb and RTE NSO Principals in a Tangos Recital – a fiver in or free with the main concert ticket. On Fri 24 pianist Barry Douglas directs the NSO from the keyboard in Brahms Piano Concerto No 1 and conducts the Mussorgksy/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition.

October kicks off with a concert of music inspired by dance, juxtaposing Ravel’s Shéhérazade and La Valse with John Adams’ Guide to Strange Places and The Chairman Dances. Fri 8 has Michael Tippett’s Fantasia and Beethoven’s Eroica, conducted by Kenneth Montgomery. Bach’s Mass in B Minor has pride of place on Fri 15 with the RTE Philharmonic Choir and soloists, and a late night concert features Finghin Collins and NSO Principal Winds in Mozart’s Piano and Wind Quintet. On Fri 22 John Finucane directs and is soloist in Mozart’s sublime Clarinet Concerto, also conducting Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier suite and Dance of the Seven Veils, and you can hear more Stauss – Don Quichotte – alongside Debussy and Ravel on Fri 29. www.rte.ie

Metropolis

Fritz Lang's epic and extraordinary silent movie Metropolis gets a rare screening with live orchestral accompaniment at the NCH on Sat 4 Sept. Lang’s sci-fi masterpiece has been seen in Dublin before – I remember a fascinating outdoor screening in Temple Bar back in the 90s – but this is the first time since its 1927 release that the full uncut movie will be shown. Against the director’s wishes, the original version was cut by a quarter, and the excised footage was presumed lost. Until, in one of those fairytale moments of movie history, several dusty reels were discovered in a small museum in Buenos Aires in 2008. It’s now been painstakingly restored and was premiered earlier this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, with a newly adapted score for Salon Orchestra based on the original 1927 score. There’s also an accompanying season at the IFI of Lang's other work alongside some science fiction classics that he influenced. www.nch.ie

RTE Concert Orchestra

The RTE Concert Orchestra are having a pretty busy month at the NCH, with Fri evening and Tue lunchtime concerts. Fri 13 & Sat 14 sees the (once) gorgeous Anthony Andrews (remember him, the teddybear-clutching Sebastian of Brideshead Revisited?) taking on the role of Prof Henry Higgins in a concert version of My Fair Lady, with a starry cast that also includes the likes of Julian Ovenden of Foyle’s War/The Royal fame. Legendary French film composer Michel Legrand multitasks as conductor, pianist and singer in an evening of his classic movie music on Fri 20. Russell Watson, ‘the People’s Tenor’, reschedules his ash cloud cancellation on Sun 22; and the music of Bill Whelan is celebrated by an all-singing, dancing and playing cast including Julie Feeney, Zoe Conway and Declan Masterson on Fri 27. www.rte.ie

NewSoundWorlds

There’s another chance to hear New York based pianist Isabelle O’ Connell at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room on Tue 1 June as part of the NewSoundWorlds series. One of the ash cloud casualties that now seem so last month, she’ll be getting to grips with Book 1 of George Crumb’s masterful Makrokosmos, written in 1972 to explore the sonic possibilities of the piano. In what looks like a really interesting programme there's also pieces by Ken Steen, Terry Winter, Henry Cowell and James Mobberley. www.nch.ie

RTE National Symphony Orchestra

The dynamic William Eddins is back in town to conduct an all-American programme with the RTE NSO at the NCH on Fri 30 April. First off is the European premiere of Owls, a new piece by Andre Previn. Philip Martin is the soloist in Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto, and mezzo Fiona Murphy & baritone Owen Gilhooly join the RTE Philharmonic Choir for Hindemith’s setting of Walt Whitman’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. There’s the world premiere of a new work by Jennifer Walshe on Fri 7 May, along with Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 6 (Pathetique); Brahms, Dvorak and Beethoven (Symphony No 7) on Fri 14, with Arabella Steinbacher the soloist in Dvorak’s Violin Concerto; a Viennese evening on Fri 21 with Schubert (Unfinished), Berg, Mozart and Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht. The NSO’s final concert of the season is on Fri 28, a great mix of Mozart, Beethoven and Berlioz. François-Frédéric Guy is the soloist in Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto, and the whole shebang comes to a dramatic end with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. www.rte.ie

NewSoundWorlds

Two concerts coming up in the NewSoundWorlds Spring Series at the NCH’s Kevin Barry Room. On Tue 20 April (ash cloud permitting) New York based pianist Isabelle O’Connell plays a programme built around George Crumb’s masterful Makrokosmos. Violinist Darragh Morgan teams up with pianist John Tilbury on Tue 4 May for 80 minutes of Morton Feldman’s iconic For John Cage. www.nch.ie And if Feldman’s mesmeric music grabs your imagination, check out the current exhibition at Imma, Vertical Thoughts: Morton Feldman and the Visual Arts. www.modernart.ie. Meanwhile the Irish Composers Collective are at the NCH on Mon 26 April with new music by David Bremner, Amanda Feery, Richard Gill, Bill Mc Grath, Emma O’ Halloran and Dylan Rynhart, performed by clarinetist Paul Roe and guitarist Philip Lawson.

Jigs & Reels & Drums

Things are going to get pretty noisy at the NCH over the next few days. First up are Kodo, the internationally renowned Japanese drum ensemble who’ll be drumming up a storm on Sun 14 March as part of their European One Earth Tour. Our own Kilfenora Ceili Band take to the stage on Tues 16 for a lively foot-tapping session of traditional Irish jigs, reels and polkas, with dancing honours going to Michael Donnellan, 4-times World Irish Dance Champion and one-time Riverdancer. And on the great day itself, Wed 17 March, St Patrick’s Festival presents A Celebration of Irish Voices, featuring the brilliant Donal Lunny and two of Ireland’s leading choirs from the Sean-Nos tradition, Cor Taobh A’Leitheid, led by Dominic Mac Giolla Bhride, and Peadar O Riada’s Cor Cul Aodh. www.nch.ie www.stpatricksfestival.ie

I'm a Celebrity...

There’s no shortage of glitz & glamour, not to mention fab musicianship, at the NCH’s ongoing Celebrity Concert Series. Virtuoso pianist and global superstar Lang Lang takes to the stage tomorrow evening (Tue 2 Feb) playing works by Beethoven, Albeniz and Prokofiev. A hero in his native China and listed as one of Time Magazine's ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’, Lang has even had a Steinway named after him – and he’s only 27. Tue 9 sees the return of NCH favourite, former child prodigy and violinist extraordinaire Sarah Chang, who’s partnered by Andrew von Oeyen in sonatas for violin and piano by Brahms and Cesar Franck and a new piece written specially for her by Christopher Theofanidis. Then in March (Thur 11) it’s the turn of another glam lady, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen (apparently iTunes’ most downloaded classical musician) playing an interesting mix of Brahms, Bartok, Janacek and Beethoven. www.nch.ie

New Horizons

RTE's free Horizons series, focussing on contemporary Irish composers, is currently running at the NCH Tues lunchtimes. Featuring the RTE NSO, there are 2 concerts left in the series. On Feb 2 the featured composer is Elaine Agnew, with 3 of her works on the programme including Make a Wish, an RTE lyric fm commission, and you can also hear pieces by Elena Kats-Chernin and Stephen Gardner. Pianist Finghin Collins is the soloist and David Brophy conducts. Brian Irvine takes over as both composer and conductor on Feb 9, with a performance of his Montana Strange featuring Paul Dunmall on saxophone; a late addition to the programme is Bill Campbell's Weather Report. Irvine gives a pre-concert talk @12.30pm. www.rte.ie/performinggroups

Tradfest

For some great trad (and other) music in August check out the National Concert Hall where the 10^th ESB BEO Celtic Music Festival runs from 22-29 Aug. Making his NCH debut, singer-songwriter Luka Bloom kicks things off, sharing the stage with stunning Scottish vocalist Eddi Reader, and the following night it’s the turn of Paul Brady who’ll be mixing old favourites with new material as part of his solo Travelin’ Light Tour. The 80-strong Meitheal Orchestra are joined by the inimitable Sharon Shannon for a lunchtime gig on Wed 26, and on Sun 29 you can hear the hugely influentialWaterson Family in what could well be the festival highlight. Ambassadors for British folk music for almost half a century, the extended Waterson Family includes double Mercury Prize nominee Eliza Carthy, her da Martin Carthy, whose settings of traditional songs with guitar have influenced everyone from Dylan to Paul Simon and Billy Bragg, and her mother Norma Waterson – all three played recently as part of Hal Wilmer’s Rogue’s Gallery. www.nch.ie