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INO Norma at the National Opera House

Posted in Opera with tags , , , , , , , , on June 4, 2026 by telescoper

I had seen the by Vincenzo Bellini‘s opera Norma twice (before yesterday evening) but both times were before I starting blogging so I was very pleased to see that Irish National Opera were doing a new production this year. It had a run at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, but I took the chance to see it National Opera House in Wexford. The first time I went there was last year and was to see a very different opera, although that one and Norma are both generally categorized by the term bel canto. I was so excited by the prospect of seeing this production that I made myself a Bellini on Saturday, only to discover that the cocktail is named after a different Bellini…

Norma is not performed all that often, largely because it is difficult to find a singer capable of doing justice to the title role which is acknowledged as being one of the most vocally demanding roles in all opera. It is a role that the great Maria Callas made her own in the 1950s which places the additional burden on the the singer of stepping out of the shadow of such a legend. I was delighted that in Salome Jicia INO found an artist who could meet the challenges of the part. She was stunning.

I think the part of Norma is difficult not only because of the vocal range of the part, from the lyrical beauty of the famous aria Casta Diva to the agility needed to perform the coloratura passages, but also for the sheer stamina required. There really is a lot of singing for her to do in this opera! Jicia took it in her stride. Bellini rarely gets the orchestra to double the vocal line, so the voice of the singer is very exposed. At times it’s like watching acrobatics knowing that there’s no safety net!

Anyway, to the plot.

Norma is a tragedia lirica in two Acts, set in ancient Gaul which is under occupation by the Romans. The eponymous Norma is the high priestess of the native Druids. She is also a complex chartacter, not least because she is in a relationship with a high-ranking Roman, Pollione, with whom she has had two kids. It turns out that Pollione is tiring of Norma and has turned his attention to her friend Adalgisa, who does not know about Pollione’s involvement with Norma.

The Opera begins with the heavily armed Gauls, led by Norma’s father Oroveso, planning to rise up against the Roman occupiers. But only Norma can sanction an armed rebellion and she says no. The aria Casta Diva expresses Norma’s desire for peace, but this is not just because she feels the Romans have greater military strength and would crush the rising, but because of her thing with Pollione. Over the course of the Opera we find out about Pollione’s infatuation with Adalgisa and their planned elopement to Rome which sends Norma into such a rage she threatens to kill her own children. Eventually Norma decides to change her mind about the uprising and calls for it to go ahead. Protocol requires a human sacrifice to initiate such a move, so the question is who is for the chop? Will it be Pollione, or Adalgisa? Norma surprises the assembled Gauls by confessing her sacreligious relationship with Pollione and declaring herself to be the sacrifice. Pollione is overcome by remorse at what he has done, and decides to join Norma in death.

Well, what did you expect in an Opera, a happy ending?

This production eschews the Normal (geddit?) setting of forest groves and scared shrines and places it in a sort of modern post-apocalyptic dystopia. The stage is dominated by barricades apparently hastily constructed from broken furniture and scrap metal. Lighting is sombre and claustrophobic. This jars with Bellini’s music when it evokes pastoral beauty – the music is too light and pretty for such a gloomy setting.

Gone are the swords, spears and druidic robes and in come AK-47s, pistols and somewhat scruffy modern-looking outfits. Even Norma’s dress is nothing fancy. The Gauls look like a ramshackle but heavily armed paramilitary group and are indistinguishable in costume from the Romans, except that the latter have special haircuts – mohawks died bright red on top. I found this a bit confusing and felt that it negated the theme of “occupiers versus occupied” which runs throughout the piece. This choice is probably intended to show the struggle as one between two rival groups in a polarized community. In the hands of the chorus the guns create a very menacing backgroup to several scenes, and of course the ending ends not by ritual burning, as in the original, but by firing squad.

The musical pyrotechnics do pose challenges for the staging, however, because an opera is not just a concert. It doesn’t work as music drama if the singers are just standing there belting out tunes. They also need to employ gestures and facial expressions to match the emotions expressed by the score and it can’t be too static. In this production the set is rather simple, and when I first saw it I assumed that it would be moved around a lot to create different locations, but that was only done to a limited extent. To compensate for the inflexible scenery, the chorus often provides a moving backdrop to the action. In the hands of the chorus the proliferation of guns create a very menacing backgroup to several scenes, and of course the ending ends not by ritual burning, as in the original, but by firing squad. The chorus was used very imaginatively, I’d say, not only to make up the numbers on stage, but also in their singing. I liked the idea of the chorus being split for some passages, leading one’s attention around the stage as the different groups gave voice.

I already mentioned Salome Jicia, but the other principals were also very good. Mario Chang (tenor) was a fine Pollione, William Guanbo Su a towering Oroveso with a rich bass and Siobhan Stagge as Adalgisa sang and acted beautifully. Despite some reservations about the staging, I thought this was a hugely enjoyable performance. Bellini has his critics, but I think the last part of Act II, the principals and chorus singing their hearts out to wonderful music, as the drama moves inexorably to its tragic conclusion, is one of the most intensely moving experiences in the entire operatic repertoire.

P.S. If you have 20 minutes to spare, listen to the Act II finale as performed by Callas here.

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Britten & Mahler at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , on May 30, 2026 by telescoper

Having finished my exam marking the previous day and with a Bank Holiday weekend ahead, I had a spring in my step as I walked through a sunny Dublin yesterday evening for the season finale of concerts by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland of 2026. The guest conductor for the evening was Jonas Alber. As usual for the closing concert of the season there was a very full house. There were only two items on the menu, but it was a substantial feast, so much so that I only just made it back to Pearse after the concert for the train home!

The first piece was new to me – the Violin Concerto by Benjamin Britten. This was written in 1939 just after Britten moved to the United States. It’s an unusual piece that reminded me very much of Prokofiev, especially the second movement which is a very long scherzo. The third movement involves a Passacaglia (thematic variations played over a repeated bass pattern), rather reminiscent that deployed in the Opera Peter Grimes. Overall its atmosphere is tonally ambiguous, brooding and restless, with uneasy introspection sometimes giving way to sudden outbursts. It’s an absorbing piece which places strong demands on the soloist. Latvian violist Baiba Skride played superbly throughout, taking the feverishly virtuosic cadenzas in her stride.

After the wine break, much needed because of the warm weather we had Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. This work is best known for the 4th movement Adagietto but I’ve always felt that section fits rather uncomfortably with the rest of the composition. That’s not to say that I dislike the Adagietto, which I think is one of the most beautiful movements in all music, and regularly makes me shed a tear. I just think it’s a bit of a detour from the rest of the work. I suppose one should think of it as a sort of intermezzo, a restful interlude before the journey reaches its climax in the 5th movement Rondo which was played with electrifying passion last night.

Mahler’s Fifth Symphony veers across a vast emotional landscape. The conductor Bruno Walter described it as “passionate, wild, pathetic, buoyant, solemn, tender, full of the sentiments of which the human heat is capable, but still ‘only’ music”. Although by no means an atonal work, there isn’t really a clear tonal signature: at least five different keys are used and there are passages in which the key is ambiguous.

The first movement begins with a funeral march, introduced with a solo trumpet statement like a fanfare, followed by lyrical passages from the strings. The second movement is extremely tempestuous, contrasting moods of melancholy and frenzy, with the trumpet theme from the first movement returning. The third movement, a long Scherzo, is unexpectedly playful, with two thematic forms bouncing off each other. Then there’s the soulful longing of the Adagietto, beautifully played last night to a rapt audience and the joyful finale in an unambiguously major key. The Fifth is by no means Mahler’s longest symphonic work but it still lasts well over an hour. So gripping was the performance, however, that I didn’t look at my watch once.

This was a superb concert, with the large orchestral forces marshalled superbly by Jonas Alber. I have to mention the brass section and especially the trumpet of Darren Moore, who was brilliant.

That may be the last concert of the 25/6 season, but the brochure for thr 26/7 season arrived through my letterbox on Friday morning.

There will be other music at the NCH over the summer, but the first of the regular series of Friday concerts will be on September 11th, when it will be Mahler again. Appropriately enough it will be a performance of his Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”…

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R.I.P. Sonny Rollins (1930-2026)

Posted in Jazz, R.I.P. with tags , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2026 by telescoper

I woke this morning to the sad news that the great tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins passed away yesterday at the age of 95. He was one of the most influential and creative musicians of his time and there are many justifiably glowing obituaries of him. I can’t add much that hasn’t already been said by them, other than say that I consider myself deeply privileged to have been able see and hear Sonny Rollins play live, not once but twice, during the 1980s. The first was in the relatively intimate surroundings of Ronnie Scott’s club in London and the second in the Royal Festival Hall. On both occasions he was fantastic. Sonny Rollins was one of those musicians who made me think when I watched him that if you took the instrument out of his mouth it would somehow carry on playing on its own. At Ronnie Scott’s club he opened one set by starting to play in the band room, walking out through the audience onto the stage still playing and then about an hour later walked off back the way he came, still playing. The tune was Thelonious Monk’s 52nd Street Theme. He ended his set at the Festival Hall with an unstoppable version of Don’t Stop The Carnival that had everyone leaping about in the aisles. There was so much music in him it just had to come out. Was he playing the music or was it playing him?

Sonny Rollins began playing professionally when he was a teenager in the late 1940s but came to the attention of the jazz world in earnest when he teamed up with Miles Davis for a 1954 recording session that led to a record called Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins. (Coincidentally, today would have been Miles Davis’s 100th birthday). That record, originally issued on a 10″ LP, showcased Rollins’s big muscular sound on tenor sax, but also consisted of four tracks, three of which were compositions by Sonny Rollins, including a now-standard Oleo. That record was really Sonny’s breakthrough and he went on to record dozens of superb albums both as leader: A Night at the Village Vanguard, Saxophone Colossus, Newk’s Time, and Way Out West, to name just four. He also made many records as a side man, including the must-have album, Brilliant Corners with Thelonious Monk.

Having established himself as a major artist, Rollins suddenly took a three-year break from playing between 1959 to 1961 to develop his technique. Lacking space to practice in his apartment, he did so every day on the Williamsburg Bridge. When he returned to a recording studio in early 1962, the result was another classic album, The Bridge.

(Left: Sonny Rollins c. 1960)

Having established himself as a major artist, Rollins suddenly took a three-year break from playing between 1959 to 1961 to develop his technique. Lacking space to practice in his apartment, he did so every day on the Williamsburg Bridge. When he returned to a recording studio in early 1962, the result was another classic album, The Bridge.

In all he made over 60 albums, of which I have about a dozen. I’ll be listening to them a lot over the next few days and may post a few further items about them in due course.One thing I always liked about Sonny Rollins was his tendency to take a shine to very unexpected tunes and turn them into something magical. Off the top of my head I can think of The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, How are Things in Glocca Morra? and I’m an Old Cowhand.

It’s impossible to pick a single track than can do justice to Sonny Rollins so I’m just going to include a couple here. The first is the very first track I ever heard by him, on a Blue Note sampler album. It’s a Miles Davis tune called Tune Up and it’s from the 1957 Blue Note album Newk’s Time with Wynton Kelly (piano), Doug Watkins (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). Perhaps listening to the energy and invention of his playing, delivered with that characteristically leathery tone then you’ will understand why I fell instantly in love with his music and wanted to hear more.

The second is one of my favourite records of all time. It’s called Hold’ Em Joe and it was recorded in 1965 with Ray Bryant (piano), Walter Booker (bass) and the fabulous Mickey Roker on drums:

As a sad footnote on this sad occasion, the passing of Sonny Rollins means that not one of the great musicians in this famous photograph A Great Day in Harlem, taken on August 12th 1958, is still with us:

Rest in Peace Sonny Rollins (1930-1954), Saxophone Colossus indeed.

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Saariaho, Beethoven & Sibelius at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , , on May 16, 2026 by telescoper

And so it came to pass that yesterday evening I took the train into Dublin and back to see what, for me, will be the penultimate concert by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland at the National Concert Hall. The conductor for this occasion was Colombian born Lina Gonzalez-Granados. There was a good crowd at the NCH, although it wasn’t quite full.

By way of a starter we heard Ciel d’hiver by Kaija Saariaho, a Finnish composer who spent her later life living in Paris; she passed away in 2023. This piece is an intriguing evocation of the winter sky, with dense blocks of harmonies suggesting the broad expanse of the heavens punctuated by drifting clusters of fragmented patterns until it reaches the zenith expressed by an intense climax before fading away again. This piece was new to me – it was in fact the Irish premier – and I enjoyed it greatly. I like it when there are unfamiliar items on the menu!

The rest of the first half of the concert consisted of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (in C) with soloist John O’Conor. This was first published in 1795 (but revised around 1800). It actually Beethoven’s third go at writing a piano concerto but was published first. His first attempt was written when he was a teenager and was never published. What we now know as the Piano Concerto No. 2 was written around 1788 but not published until 1801. I hope this clarifies the situation.

The Piano Concrto No. 1 consists of three movements, an expansive slow movement (marked Largo) sandwiched between two sprightly up-tempo movements, marked Allegro con brio and Rondo-Allegro Scherzando, respectively. It’s very obviously influenced by Mozart, but Beethoven’s own voice is very clear too. I think the first part of the last movement, full of energy and wit, is the best part of this work and O’Conor played it with genuine sparkle. His performance was very well received, and he rounded it off with a very familiar charming encore, also by Beethoven, his Für Elise, which O’Conor played for his two granddaughters who were both in the audience last night.

Ludwig van Beethoven washimself by all accounts an extraordinary pianist and I couldn’t help wondering during the interval what he would have sounded like playing his own piano concertos.

After the wine break we returned to hear the Symphony No. 2 in D Major by Jean Sibelius. This piece was written about a century later than the Beethoven Piano Concerto and its sound world is very different, although it does share an overall mood of hope and defiance that you will find in many works by Beethoven. It’s probably this aspect of the work that led to it being co-opted by the Finnish nationalist movement although I don’t think it was written for that purpose.

I had been looking forward to this for quite a while as I had never heard this work performed in a live concert before. Hearing it last night was a revelation, especially because the momentum of the piece was much better controlled than on some recordings I’ve heard. It’s a large piece, in four movements, lasting about 45 minutes altogether. The first movement starts with hesitant figures repeated a number of times by different sections of the orchstra. The second movement is slow and rather mournful in tone but full of great melodic ideas. It is marked Tempo andante, ma rubato and I think how to handle the rubato (deviating from strict tempo) is what some conductors might struggle with: I think it’s supposed to flow naturally, but not wallow or become too turbulent. The third movement starts in a hurry and moves directly into the thrilling Finale. The last movement is full of blazing statements of triumph, as would accompany a hero reaching the end of a perilous journey.

The balance and contrast between the different sections of the orchestra was very well done. I especially enjoyed the playing of the brass instruments which was vigorous but superbly controlled. Hats off to NSOI and to Lina Gonzalez-Granados for the performance. I found myself humming pieces of the Sibelius to myself as I walked back to Pearse station for the train back to Maynooth.

P.S. I must get a better recording of the Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius for my collection – does anyone out there have any suggestions?

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Joy Spring – Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Posted in Jazz with tags , , , , , , on May 13, 2026 by telescoper

This tune popped into my head when I was walking home this evening so after dinner I listened to my CD of the terrific 1954 album Clifford Brown & Max Roach, on which it first appeared. Trumpeter Clifford Brown wrote the tune Joy Spring when he was just 23 for his wife Larue and it became a jazz standard. This first version features a quintet jointly led by Brown and Max Roach on drums, together with hugely underrated tenor saxophonist Harold Land, Richie Powell on piano (younger brother of Bud Powell, whose influence you can hear in his playing) and George Morrow on bass. The whole album is great, but I think the standout tracks are this version of Joy Spring and their version of Duke Jordan’s tune Jordu. Brown’s solo on Joy Spring demonstrates his beautifully crisp articulation and his superb capacity for sustained melodic invention, moving into and out of double-time. He only plays two choruses, but packs so much into them. Enjoy!

Despite it’s happy feel, this track will always be tinged with tragedy. Less than two years after this session both Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed in a car crash: Brown was 25 and Powell 24.

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Weber & Brahms at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2026 by telescoper

It had been a month since my last visit to the National Concert Hall in Dublin, as I have had many distractions recently, so I was pleased to find the time yesterday evening to go again. The walk through Dublin was very pleasant in the fine weather, with lots of people outside the bars and pubs having a drink and enjoying the sunshine.

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland was conducted for the occasion by Peter Whelan for a concert of two pieces by Johannes Brahms either side of the Clarinet Concerto No. 1 by Carl Maria von Weber. When I first started writing this blog years ago, I mentioned that I didn’t really get why people think Brahms is so good. It’s not that I actively dislike Brahms, it’s just that I don’t find that he moves me as much as many other composers and so many people rave about him that I think I must be missing something. Anyway, I have persevered and now enjoy at least some of his music.

The Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn was written in 1873, when Brahms was three years before wrote his First Symphony. Interestingly it’s not clear whether the theme concerned was actually due to Haydn at all, but whoever supplied the raw material, this is one of the first compositions by anyone that featured a set of variations for a full orchestra. I had never heard this work before found it generally enjoyable, pedestrian in places, but with some excellent sections. There are 8 variations, bookended by the Introduction of the Theme and a Finale 7th variation is very lyrical and romantic, others are more upbeat and light-hearted.

After that introduction the Orchstra was joined on stage by Portuguese clarinetist Carlos Ferreira for the Clarinet Concerto No. 1 by Carl Maria von Weber. This is one of only two works by this composed that I’ve ever heard – the other being the Opera Oberon (which, incidentally has its original libretto in English) – and I have a couple of recordings on CD. It’s a very popular element of the clarinet repertoire and I’ve heard the last movement – a sprightly and tuneful Rondo – played on its own quite a few times on the radio. This piece was written in 1811 and you could say it provides an early Romantic contrast with the late Romantic style of Brahms. You can hear the influence of Mozart in it, and it has a slow-fast-slow three movement structure very reminiscent of the classical period.

I really enjoyed the playing of Carlos Ferreira. I especially liked the tone he produced and his ability to project even when apparently playing rather softly. The audience liked it too, and he got a standing ovation at the end (and did an encore).

After the wine break interval came the main course in the form of the Symphony No. 4 in E Minor by Johannes Brahms. This is of course a very familiar work, but that there’s always something new to find in it. and the 4th Symphony is a very fine work, which is now up among my favourite symphonies. There’s a great deal of interest in every moment from the simple phrase that introduces the first movement to the last movement, which is in three sections and which owes a lot to Bach and is almost a symphony in itself. It was performed beautifully last night by NSOI under the direction of Peter Whelan.

It was still quite warm in Dublin when I walked to Pearse Station to get the train back to Maynooth. The train filled up at Drumcondra with Shelbourne supporters on their way home from a match at Tolka Park, so it was much busier than usual but there wasn’t any trouble at all.

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The Original Peaky Blinders Jazz Band

Posted in History, Jazz, Television with tags , , , , on April 15, 2026 by telescoper

I’ve been greatly enjoying the boxed set of six seasons of Peaky Blinders that I received as a gift recently. I may do a sort of review when I get to the end, but until then I thought I’d throw in a few tangential things. This post is an example. Here’s another one. This clip is from Episode 2 of Series 1, when the Shelby family are celebrating the reopening of the Garrison pub after it was destroyed by a firebomb earlier on. Listen to the background music at the start.

The music being played is Livery Stable Blues by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, a record I blogged about here. Released in 1917, it is no exaggeration to say that this was the first every commercial jazz record; I blogged about the 100th anniversary of its release.

The band was originally called the “Original Dixieland Jass Band“. A few months later they changed the “Jass” to “Jazz” – it is claimed because people kept defacing their posters by removing the letter “J” – and the new name stuck. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band is usually referred by Jazz buffs as the ODJB.

Led by cornettist Nick LaRocca and clarinettist Larry Shields, the ODJB was a group of white musicians from in and around New Orleans who had picked up their musical ideas from listening to musicians there, including playing for the pioneering mixed-race band led by Papa Laine, before moving to Chicago which is where they were spotted by representatives of the Victor label. Although the sound quality isn’t great, it gives a good insight to what ealy jazz drummers were like – thumping bass and tom-toms but little use of the cymbals – and shows Larry Shields was a dab hand at glissandi…

Series 1 of Peaky Blinders is set in 1919 (mainly in Birmingham but also with scenes in London). Not a lot of people know that the ODJB actually visited England in 1919. They performed in review at the Hammersmith Palais and then did a command performance in front of King George V, who (apparently) particularly enjoyed their version of Tiger Rag. There is no evidence that they visited Birmingham, but we get a glimpse before the above clip of a band decked out to look like them, playing live in the Garrison pub. I very much enjoy little details like that!

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A Hungarian Rhapsody

Posted in Music, Politics with tags , , , , on April 12, 2026 by telescoper

Back home to the news that Viktor Orbán has been ousted in today’s election in Hungary I thought I’d share something celebratory. Here is a classic recording of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Franz Liszt played by György Cziffra. The second is by far the most famous of the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies Liszt wrote, although it is based on Romanian rather than Hungarian tunes. Many recordings are available – I have three on CD – and this is my favourite. Cziffra was a very talented jazz musician too (here is his take on Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady); Liszt himself was no mean improviser.

I’m not sure of the recording date, but it was made in Hungary (when Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain) so it would have to be before 1956, as Cziffra escaped to Vienna then and eventually took up French citizenship.

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National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , on March 24, 2026 by telescoper

It’s not often that I go to the National Concert Hall in Dublin on a Monday evening, but I made an exception last night to attend a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (who are currently on tour and have recently played a number of concerts in the UK). It was an interesting (and very full programme) and a very enjoyable concert. Partly because of the large Ukrainian diaspora in Ireland, hall was packed last night.

The concert opened with two pieces by Frederick Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring and Summer Night on the River, originally published together as Two Pieces for Small Orchestra. I used to listen to quite a lot of recordings of Delius when I was younger and know both these works quite well. I was a bit surprised to see them on the programme, but they certainly provided an interesting contrast with what was to come later. In fact the Orchestra, under the direction of Volodymyr Sirenko, tackled them quite differently from the versions I have heard. The sound of the cuckoo in the in the first piece was much more subtle than usually played and the overall sound was much stronger than typical performances which tend to be rather delicate.

After that we had the Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”) by Ludwin van Beethoven, played by Mariia Pukhlianko. This work wasn’t immediately popular when it was first performed in 1809 – perhaps because it was considered a bit grandiose – but is now firmly established as one of the pinnacles of the repertoire. The soloist played this very well, with a splendid balance of delicacy and power, with good transitions between the ensemble and solo sections. I enjoyed this very much indeed.

After the interval – no wine for me because I had a 9am lecture this morning – we came back for the main course, The Symphony No. 3 in E♭ major (“Eroica”) by  Ludwig van Beethoven. It’s hard to know what to say about it really, except that it’s a magnificent work in its own right as well as being historically important. Before this one, which was published in 1806, symphonies (including not only Beethoven’s First and Second, but those of Mozart, Haydn and others) were much shorter (typically around 20 minutes) and much more constrained in form. This composition – which shares some elements with Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and was apparently inspired by it – ushered in the era of the epic symphony that culminated with the likes of Mahler and Bruckner; last night’s performance took . The first movement, in sonata form, is especially long – with an extended recapitulation – and both complex and rewarding.

The performance last night was full of energy and colour and hugely enjoyable. It’s worth mentioning the unsual arrangement of the orchestra on stage. From the point of view of the Conductor, the first violins were on the far left (as usual), the cellos and basses behind them, and second violins on the far right. This was basically the same layout as was used for the last concertof this work I attended.

The NCH audience is usually generous with its applause and last night was no exception. There was a long standing ovation that precipitated two orchestral encores, neither of which was a piece that I knew.

The concert started at 8pm and didn’t finish until about 10.30pm, and it took quite a long time to get out given the nearly full house, so I missed the usual train and had to wait for the last one, at 11.21pm which got me home well after midnight. The things I do for art!

P.S. I’ve included the a page from the programme above. If you wouldn’t like to make a donation to support the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, you can scan the QR code in the right hand image above. Alternatively you can follow this link.

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Adams, Rachmaninov & Stravinsky at the National Concert Hall

Posted in Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2026 by telescoper

Yesterday evening found me once again at the National Concert Hall in Dublin for a programme of music played by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, this time conducted by Principal Conductor Designate, Alexander Shelley, who takes over fully for the 2026/7 season. He took the opportunity afforded by the break between the first two numbers needed to bring the piano onstage, to introduce himself to the audience which made a pleasant change from having to watch in silence as all the chairs and desks were moved around.

The programme began with the exuvberant Short Ride in a Fast Machine by American composer John Adams which – believe it or not – was written forty years ago, in 1986. It is an exuberant piece based on interrelated rhythmic figures which is great fun to listen to and an ideal warm-up exercise for the orchestra.

The piano having been hauled into position, it was time to welcome Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (who has Hungarian and Ukrainian ancestry) for the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninov. When the soloist walked on stage I was struck by how young he looked. He is, in fact, 27 but looks younger. Still, I’ve reached an age when most people look very young. Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is a monster of a piece – very long for a piano concerto – and also very difficult, with some fierce cadenzas. For all its reputation as a finger-breaker, it does have some lovely melodies in it. Rachmaninov himself realized he had created bit of a beast and cut some of the toughest bits for early performances, but nowadays we tend to hear the whole original score, as we did last night. I thought Jaeden Izik-Dzurko not only coped admirably with its technical demands but also conveyed its lyrical aspects very tenderly. It was a very impressive performance. The audience at the NCH obviously agreed. A standing ovation greeted him at the end, though he looked almost embarrassed by such an effusive reaction.

After the interval wine break we had a concert performance the complete score for Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird. This is a thrilling piece, involving a huge orchestra, numbering about a hundred musicians, and stunning orchestration.  The Firebird is a tour de force: intricate but vividly coloured, full of excitement and colour and NSOI played it with great passion and aplomb. A really brilliant performance.

There was an electronic sign above the orchestra for The Firebird explaining what would be going on in the ballet as the various sections of the music were played. I found that an unwelcome and slightly annoying distraction, but it didn’t detract significantly from the performance. There was thunderous applause at the end of the concert but, it being quite a long concert, I couldn’t stay for all the ovations as I had to leave to catch the train home.

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