Live Broadcasts to Best Seat in Your House

There is nothing like being there. No- but  enjoying live music and drama in your living room is pretty damn good. You can curl up on your sofa in your pyjamas, and no one is going to poke you in the ribs if you snooze during the solo arias. For the cost of a cinema ticket, you can catch a new opera production every other week at my local Odeon multiplex, walking distance from my base in Waterford. There is something thrilling about enjoying the live  event at the same time as  patrons sitting in the parterre of the Met or Convent Garden.  I admit it -I  am hooked by the online experience. Here are some of the highlights of the last ten days.

London Orfeo at the Roundhouse
This co production between ROH and Roundhouse, London was broadcast live on January 29th .  A thrilling , visceral production with terrific performances and  rich new translation by Don Paterson . Available to view for a while longer. Watch it here  on  BBC Arts.

A smartstick plugged into your tv makes it easier to watch on a larger screen than a laptop. The signal failed intermittently  but on the whole, it was a good experience.

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London Andre Chenier at the Royal Opera House 
Telegraph review here 
For €12.50 you got as good a view of the hot ticket,  tenor Jonas Kaufmann as you would if you were in the stalls of Covent Garden and if you pine for the crush bar experience, Phil Grimes pub next door has prosecco on tap.

Dublin  Friday Concert Live on Lyric Concert RTE Lyric FM

Friday's concert (Feb 6th) featured American violinist, Kurt Nikkannen in Korngold's Violin Concerto and a Schubert Symphony. The NSO sounded in fine form, the soloist shimmered in the lush Korngold score. Conductor Patrick Ringborg told a charming anecdote as a prelude to a Mahler piece,  I do miss the scripted interval piece though. The current interval filler features an informal chat with  two aficionados chatting at the bar. It doesn't make for good radio. Listen back here http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/the-lyric-concert-with-paul-herriott/

NY Met Live on radio and on screen. Tales of Hoffmann

Most Saturday nights, you can tune in to RTELyric FM amongst others to hear a live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House . Last week it was Tales of Hoffmann. I went along to see the live broadcast the Odeon Waterford This was feast for the eye  and ear and great fun. You can read the NYT review here .  

I am not a fan of the interval chats with the performers. It spoils the illusion when the smouldering baddie turns out to be a genial pussycat, However, Deborah Voigt  with a touch of flirtation in her quizzing did a terrific job and almost convinced me. We were just a little star struck  when she replied to our tweet. 

@fidleir @MetOpera Hello IRELAND!
— Deborah Voigt (@debvoigt) January 31, 2015

Munich : Lucia di Lammermoor: Staatsoper: .

I had more than a passing interest in this production. In January,  I had climbed  in the Souffleur's box on a backstage tour and had a preview of the set before opening night. The run has been sold out for months.  I interviewed one of the cast, Dean Power and  interview is filed with the Irish Examiner. The most talked about production of the current season at Staatsoper had a fifties American makeover. The singing was superb from Diana Damrau and Pavol Breslik. Dean Power was excellent as Noramnno . Bachtrack review here http://bachtrack.com/kritik-lucia-di-lammermoor-petrenko-damrau-staatsoper-muenchen-februar-2015

Bravo @bay_staatsoper #BSOLucia Fantastic to be watching from a sofa in Ireland http://t.co/YUx31Wa5OK
— Fidleir (@fidleir) February 8, 2015

The interval feature put the spotlight on the glass harmonica  

Next live streaming features more Donizetti: L'Elisir d amore 21st April https://www.staatsoper.de/en/staatsopertv.html

Los Angelos Dean Friedman live @Kulak's Woodshed 
Finally if you are a fan of Dean Friedman you can watch his show at a small club in California. Friedman played at Garter Lane last year and I regretted not being free to hear his whole set. Through the wonders of modern technology, I can at least hear what I missed. 

Dean Friedman Live! @ Kulak'sWoodshed - Concert Video Now ON-LINE. Check it out - you'll dig it!: http://t.co/JkSS169QOe … Pay-What-You-Like
— Dean Friedman (@DeanFriedman) February 7, 2015

Q& A with Pianist Michael McHale

Michael Collins. the most distinguished British clarinettist returns to the Georgian Large Room, Waterford on Thursday (Feb 12th). Collins is one of the many fabulous international artists introduced to Waterford-Music audiences by John Ruddock, the Limerick impresario who died last year.  He will be partnered by  Belfast native, Michael McHale.

I asked Michael McHale  for an e interview and heard about his new projects and his forthcoming recital. 

 At a mere 31 years, Michael McHale has moved off the lists of ‘rising stars’ and  has firmly established himself among the first rank of pianists with an international career that has taken him all over the world to major venues in Europe, Asia, North and South America. McHale has had a broad musical education. One wonders how he has managed to fit so much in. As a teenager he gigged in a jazz band  around Belfast as well as playing cello in youth orchestras. In tandem with his paino studies he picked up a double first at Cambridge.  He first came to prominence when he was among the prize winners of the Axa Dublin Piano Competition  competition in 2006. His reputation was cemented when he took first prize at the prestigious Terence Judd/ Hallé competition in 2009.

 In addition to developing a busy carer as a concert soloist and chamber musician, he has made time to record two solo albums. His debut solo recording The Irish Piano was released in 2012 and got rave reviews. British music critic,  Norman Lebrecht praised the album selecting it as CD of the week describing it thus- The Irish Piano' is a scintillating and sometimes whimsical recital that takes John Field as its starting point and spreads out across the whole of the island's music… McHale strikes just the right tone of contemplative wonderment and mischievous mythology… Fascinating from start to stop…"Just released on the Naxos label , McHales’ second solo album ‘Miniatures and Modulations’ combines the efforts of Belfast musicians across two centuries.  Composer Phillip Hammond dips into the treasure trove of airs collected by Edward Bunting at the 1792 Harp Festival and uses these ‘miniatures’ as the basis  for a set of freestyle  ‘modulations’.    New solo recording projects include an album of Schubert and contemporary interludes for Ergodos.

Little taster of our fab artists Michael Collins/ Michael Mc Hale from The Lyrical Clarinet http://t.co/1ndB2LO234 FEB 12 #Waterford
— Waterford-Music (@Waterford_Music) February 4, 2015

  In great demand as a concerto soloist, McHale is also much sought after as a chamber musician. In May he teams up with London Winds at the Wigmore Hall and he is just back from playing with James Galway in Lucerne. He will back in the studio to record an album of flute and piano works by Schubert, Prokofiev and Liebermann with the incredible Icelandic flautist Stefan Hoskuldsson (Delos label). 

 Reviews for previous albums have been unanimous in their praise. A  BBC Music Magazine review  noted  ‘ It’s hard to imagine this varied programme better played than it is here by Collins and Michael McHale. They’re technically impeccable and stylistically flexible’. 

How did the association with Collins come about?

I first met Michael at Barry Douglas's Clandeboye Festival in Co. Down, where we were both guest artists and performed some chamber music together. We got on really well, and subsequently Michael invited me to do a few duo recitals with him, and we've been performing together ever since! He's an exceptional musician so it is always a great pleasure to share the stage with him.

How did you arrive at the programme?

Our programme is inspired largely by our latest album, released this month, which features the Brahms clarinet sonatas and a sonata by Carl Reinecke. It's our fifth album together for the Chandos label and we were both delighted with how it turned out. We've also included in our concert programme Weber's virtuosic Grand Duo Concertant to spice things up even further!

Highlight of last year?

I was fortunate to enjoy many great musical experiences in 2014 both at home and abroad - but the highlight for me must be my début with the amazing Minnesota Orchestra at their newly refurbished Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, performing Mozart's A major Concerto K.488 with my good friend Courtney Lewis conducting, live on radio, in front of a packed house and standing ovation - what a thrill!

What are you looking forward to most in 2015?

I'm very excited to perform one of my favourite works, Beethoven's 4th concerto, in July with the RTÉ NSO. And it's always a joy to return to London's Wigmore Hall, where I perform a coffee concert in May with London Winds and an evening recital in September with Michael Collins.

I also have a few new albums coming out in 2015, which I hope will be well received - there is a solo album of wonderful Irish music by Philip Hammond: Miniatures & Modulations (Naxos' Grand Piano label - see video), another solo disc of Schubert Impromptus op.90 with contemporary interludes (Ergodos label) and an album of flute and piano works by Schubert, Prokofiev and Liebermann with the incredible Icelandic flautist Stefan Hoskuldsson (Delos label).

With airports becoming increasingly stressful,  how do you cope with the hassle of travelling?

I guess it's an occupational hazard - although the one silver lining with travelling so regularly is that one can join up with the frequent flyers' clubs and then avail of the priority check-in, fast-track security and airline lounges - this can make all the difference and over the course of a year save a lot of time.

What did you study in Cambridge?

I read Music at Cambridge - and although the degree was almost entirely academic, I was fortunate to study many disparate areas of music, such as composition, analysis, history, score reading, figured bass realization, film music, science of music, etc etc - some of which has hopefully ended up informing and enriching my approach to performance.

Where is your home base when not travelling?

I'm based in London, and have been for 10 years, since studying for two years as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. It's a wonderful city, and when I'm there I regularly go to concerts and gigs of all different kinds of music. It's a real artistic melting pot, and importantly it also has many well-connected airports!

Any repertoire /chamber music collaboration on your wish list in the long term

Another great highlight of 2014 was working with Camerata Pacifica (in California) - as well as playing some solo Schubert, I enjoyed a wonderful collaboration with violinist Paul Huang (see video) - I hope very much to return to give more concerts with this superb ensemble in the future.

I know you've played in Waterford before (I am told you were first to play the new piano in Christchurch). . How do you think the acoustic /setting  will suit the combination?

Yes that was a lovely evening at Christchurch with their new Yamaha piano! I've played in Waterford many times, and I particularly love the Steinway piano at City Halls, it's a beautiful instrument, and impressively well maintained, too. My last two concerts there were a solo recital and a chamber music performance with the Cappa Ensemble. Michael has played all over Ireland in every possible venue you could imagine, stretching back to the 1980s and his great friendship with (the late) John and Doreen Ruddock, to whom we will be dedicating our concert. The setting will be absolutely perfect and we're both very much looking forward to it.

 Michael Collins and Michael McHale perform at The John Ruddock Memorial Recital Georgian Large Room City Hall Waterford Feb 12^th as part of Waterford-Music Season http://www.waterford-music.org/ 8pm  €18/5

McHale play new work by Hammond last night on  Bernard Clark's Nova slot RTELyricFM Listen back here http://t.co/g4CYU4IbOk 

Listen to Aedin Gormley's interview  http://t.co/B8Cp9lPInD

Review Brahms CD on Nemmblog.com

Irish Chamber Orchestra at NCH : István Várdai

ICO in chamber music mode at the NCH


Shostakovich: 2Two pieces for octet
Schumann Cello Concerto  arr Vygen and Kahl
Nimbus for String Orchestra  Sam Perkin
Chamber Symphony for Strings op110a

The Irish Chamber Orchestra's current outing is titled World Premiere placing  Sam Perkin's commissioned piece, Nimbus for String Orchestra at the centre of their programme, bookended by works by Shostakovich.  The atmospheric, one movement work mixed a shifting palette  of string effects.  Drones set against shimmery,  tremolo violins , chuggy bass riffs, ghostly harmonics and stocky pizzicato ebbed and flowed in this freestyle piece inspired by an 'aura of radiance'. I originally thought it might have been inspired by cumulonimbus clouds and I could just imagine the music played to accompany shifting cloud patterns.

Hungarian cellist, Istvan Vardai joined them for a rendition of Schumann's Cello Concerto in a slimmed down arrangement for strings.  While some cellists can appear to wrestle with their oversized instrument, Vardai's cello seemed almost like a plaything held between his  wide arm span. The performance,  full of grace charm and effortless skill was well received by the NCH audience and we were treated to an encore, Schumann's Abendlied.   (Vardai returns to Ireland for three dates in March with pianist Finghin Collins). You can hear Vardai play the work in the video below)


The Irish Chamber Orchestra are arguably Ireland's most excellent string ensemble. The NCH is  the nation's  premier venue. So what was there not to like. The 18 standing musicians  had loads of room on the NCH platform. In the opening work, two pieces by Shostakovich for octet,  the orchestra was shorn of half it's troupe . Size matters. It felt rather like a glass of fine wine in a pint glass. The main auditorium just  lacked the intimacy that the chamber music programme, pared down to a single timbre needed to enfold the players and give the music it's full potency.

Two more dates in tour

• 20:00, Thursday, February 5, 2015

  University Concert Hall, Limerick
  Find Ticket

• 20:00, Friday, February 6, 2015

  The Model, Sligo
  Find Ticket

Hungarian Cellist with Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Budapest

Hooked at Central Hall

  Hooked, written by Gillian Grattan and directed by Don Wyncherly is having a run at the Central Hall Theatre  in Waterford before moving to the Viking Theatre, Clontarf. Looking at the promotional shots  for Hooked,with a main protagonist sporting fishing gear and pink smalls,  you might expect a light hearted, farce, While there is an element of whimsy, Ballykissangel it ain't and  it is quite a bit murkier that. The plot synopsis is set out as  'Attractive young Dubliner, Lydia retreats to a small country village in an attempt to escape from her past and reinvent her future. She moves in next door to Tom and Mary, the typical country neighbours, or are they?
Lydia quickly becomes the object of curiosity not only for Tom and Mary but the community at large . Tension mounts between the two women, setting in motion a gripping and unexpected chain of events that threatens to expose the secrets and lies bubbling beneath the surface in this small, close-knit rural community'. 

Fab performance from @SeanaKerslake @stevieblo tina kellegher directed by @DonWycherley @CentralArts1 last night. pic.twitter.com/UqK9b0xpMd
— Gillian Grattan (@evilittlegenius) January 28, 2015

The  characters and their entanglements  are revealed through a series of monologues  with a simple backdrop a washing line and   a shelf of domestic odds and ends.  The performances are terrific. Tina Kellegher is the surly scheming  house wife. Steve Blount plays husband Tom -a bit of a gom with a penchant for satin and Seana Kerslake is hippy dippy  Lydia. The language is at times quite salty. It is funny The midweek  preview audience cackled frequently throughout. But there is an edge to it that did reel me in over the 90 minutes or so. With good sound effects, the piece has the rhythm and feel of a radio play.
This production is described as a professional directorial debut for the well known TV actor. (A radio version of the play garnered a PPI award in 2011). In 2012, a version of the play  was produced in New York under the title Fish Out of Water. While we rue  the loss of our professional theatre company Red Kettle it is good to see a good quality theatre in this intimate space.

Hooked  by Gillian Grattan continues at Central Hall, Waterford  until Saturday 31st Jan €15

Q& A with Director Don Wyncherly after Thursday performance.

Venue Notes.  Lighting was very subdued, too dark to read a programme during the delay before curtain up.

Soundtracks for Superpowers: Galway Mid Winter Festival

Note Jan 2016 : Looking back over the years' events, I noticed this report on the Galway Midwinter Festival languishing in the draft section.   This year's festival is  titled 'Captive Music from the Abyss' Read more about it here http://www.musicforgalway.ie/#!midwinter-festival/cyxe

Sunday, 18 January 2015, 15:00, Town Hall Theatre

HAYDN Quartet
SHOSTAKOVICH Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
HAYDN Berenice che fai?
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 1 in C major, Op. 8 *
SHOSTAKOVICH Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11 * 

Tickets: €20. MfG Friends and Concessions: €16. Students (full time): €6. Festival Ticket: €55/€45 

I don't often get to Galway but a fine sunny day and an afternoon time slot and an opportunity to hear a range of top class performers in one fell swoop prompted me into making the trip from Limerick  and I was glad I did. Here is my review of the final concert of the Midwinter Music Festival. 

Review Midwinter Festival Galway

Soundtracks for Superpowers was the catchy  title for the Midwinter Festival in Galway , a weekend of chamber music performances juxtaposing two composers centuries apart whose work was inextricably linked to the powerful patrons they served.  In his second festival as Artistic director, Finghin Collins used the format which has served him well in the New Ross Piano Festival.  Rather than assign one ensemble to an event, a panel of high calibre performers participated in each performance thus imparting contrast of timbre and style. There was a convivial salon ambiance with Collins and his committee front of house to greet patrons and performers sat in the audience to listen to colleagues. These little things mean a lot.

What’s finer than a string quartet – two string quartets. On Sunday afternoon, the visiting Carducci Quartet were joined  by the home team, Galway Ensemble in Residence, the ConTempo for two pieces by Shostakovich.  Both quartets were well matched in their animated vigorous style of playing and it made a change to hear something more modern and robust than the Mendelssohn Octet.

Helen Kearns Soprano

Artistic Director Collins   Connaught Tribune 

The first half nicely set light against shade. The ConTempo  Quartet  opened with a playful  Haydn quartet, the Rider named for it’s jaunty opening bars. The quartet play with a unanimous energetic delivery that often sees them momentarily  lift off their seats.  The Carducci Quartet  are soon to  embark on performing all fifteen Shostakovich quartets around the world.  On Sunday we heard their  committed performance of the mighty eight, the most popular,  inspired by the destruction of Dresden in WW2. The young  quartet  delivered  the three solemn  largos with a degree of gravity and poise that conferred an almost  palpable stillness on the auditorium.

It was unforgettable! Thank you! @FinghinCollins @CarducciQuartet @HSOPKEARNS @GalwayMusicRes pic.twitter.com/f7ZpjDN8Zu
— Music for Galway (@musicforgalway) January 18, 2015 

A regular in opera houses in France and Spain, it was good to hear Irish soprano Helen Kearns perform here.  She brought out the drama of conflicting emotions in Haydn’s vocal piece, Scene from Bernice in a rich but controlled coloratura voice.  With a virtuoso pianist shaping the programme, it is no surprise that piano featured prominently over the weekend.  On Sunday , Collins was joined by Bogdan Sofie and Adrian Mantu of the ConTempo  in a spirited  performance of the youthful Piano Trio in C . The festival was officially opened by the Russian Ambassador.  All ten performers took to the stage at the Town Hall Theatre  for a communal final bow at the close of a stimulating event.

The Carducci Quartet launch their Shostakovich 15 project  at the Curtis Auditorium, Cork  Jan 29^th as part Cork Orchestral Society Series .

If you like the sound of this programme, check out the New Ross Piano Festival in September 

Music for a While: Scholl and Allhoff at Schloss Elmau

Chamber Music Festivals: Kammermusicwoche Schloss Elmau

Schloss Elmau

Klais Bahnhof

                                                                         Leaving Garmisch Partenkirchen , a short train journey through the Wettersteiner Mountains  brings you to  Klais,  Bavaria's  highest station. From here it is a five minute taxi ride to Schloss Elmau. I made the excursion from my base at Garmisch last week to hear an extraordinary artist. Here is my festival report of an evening at Kammermusikwoche.61

Schloss Elmau is an Alpine resort hidden away in rural Bavaria, 60 miles south of Munich. In the uber-swish hotel, that will host the next G7 summit, the lighting is subdued, the lounge room musak is of a superior laconic quality and the book shop is full of weighty tomes on science and politics. You wouldn't be surprised to see Frau Merkel in the corner de-stressing after a week of keeping the show on the road at the Reichstag. 

Live music is a major feature and during a week in January, the hotel  assembles an A list roster of star classical performers for a week of  concerts to please and soothe the pains of guests after a heavy day on the slopes or at the eye watering spas. This year, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen appeared here before her sold out recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. I made an excursion to hear the celebrated counter-tenor Andreas Scholl perform not the German Baroque repertoire for which he is best known but a programme of English songs.

Scholl Halperin at Schloss Elmau

Konzertsaal Schloss Elmau

The lachrymose programme opened and closed in the Renaissance. The pathos of a pair of tear stained lute songs by John Dowland mingled with mirth of a Jacobean ditty by Thomas Campion. After the cleansing sorbet of a Bach Prelude sensitively played by pianist Tamar Halperin, came the serenity of Purcell’s, Music for a While and Evening Hymn. Benjamin Britten’s arrangements of familiar folksongs included WB Yeats’ The Salley Gardens. The gentle songs were wrapped around poignant sentiments of regret and despair in settings by Haydn of poems by Anne Hunter from his London sojourn. Scholl throughout had a genial stage manner speaking to the audience in German. For an encore he gave us another bite of Britten in the simple ‘I Will Give My Love an Apple’ . A photograph in the hall reminded us that Benjamin Britten and counter tenor Peter Pears performed here in 1959.

The countertenor voice is a musical high wire act, an enthralling blend of strength and fragility.  The impossibly beautiful tones of Herr Scholl, seemed to drop effortlessly down from another world entirely to a rapt audience in the Konzertsaal at Schloss Elmau and music  did indeed  ‘for a while, all our cares beguile’.   Wunderbar!

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(Most of the programme can be heard on the Grammy nominated Purcell album ‘O Solitude’ 2010 and English Folk Songs and Lute Songs (1996)

No Irish dates listed but several London dates in 2015).

listen to ‘elmau piano 2’ on audioBoom

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Scholl wasn't the only class act at the schloss that evening. In the Al Camino lounge  jazz pianist, Tim Allhoff  was quietly impressive  as he worked through a set of complex improvisations  on standards (including a  version of the Danny Boy) accompanied by an occasional cocktail shaker for percussion. 

Set List  Scholl

Dowland Flow My Tears
                I Saw My Lady Weep
Campion I Care not for these ladies

Bach Prelude in C
Purcell    Music for a while
               Evening Hymn
Britten Folksong arr. The Ash Grove
Haydn  Despair/ Recollection/ The Wanderer

Haydn Piano Solo Minuet and Finale Piano Sonata in A 
Britten Salley Gardens/ Greensleeves
Robert Johnson Have you seen the bright lilies grow
Encore I will give my love an apple 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yIsScgpNoA

Kaleidoscope Night at the Odessa Club

Cello Suite No 3 in C Bach
Conversation for two tambourines Bobby Lopez
African Trip Mike Nielson
 Duo for Marimba and Vibraphone Losa   Sejourné
Passacaglia for  Violin and Cello Handel- Halverson
Preludes 1/3 for Classical Guitar Villa Lobos
Trio Elatha  The Crow B Walsh: Salamanca Reels: Trasnan? A Mc Donagh, Iniseer; Croí na Mara O Connor; Reels ; Encore Slipjig The Butterfly





It's Wednesday night at the Odessa Club and the  top floor of this trendy Dublin  venue is jammed. There is a buzz of anticipation as clubbers collect their drinks at the bar and settle down in the elegant top floor chamber for the first of the  Kaleidoscope Night series in 2015.  The lighting is subdued , the vibe is mellow, the informal setting is what vou might expect at a jazz  gig or the prelude to a soulful songwriter. . Under the title Rhythmic Crossings, we heard a two hour programme featuring a mix of standard Baroque repertoire, contemporary new music and a classy fusion of  trad and classical genres from a handful of excellent young professional soloists.

Trio Elatha

Percussion Duo 

The evening opened with a solo item,  Bach Cello Suite No 3 played by Ailbhe McDonagh .  The physical closeness of the audience to the player  added a thrilling intensity to McDonagh's  fully committed performance.

 If you thought that all there was to playing a tambourine was to tap it a bit,  percussion duo, Catriona Frost and Maeve O Hara showed us otherwise in  the variety of techniques deployed   in a fun duet, Conversation for two tambourines. It must have been quite an effort to get a marimba and  a vibraphone up the several narrow flights of  stairs, It was rumoured that the instruments had arrived via helicoptor on the roof terrace.  (This is very cool venue!) The  cross rhythms in Mike Nielson's African Trip and the Latin American flavour of French composer Séjourné were  mesmerising.

The exuberant high voltage playing from Lynda O Connor on violin in a  Handel-Halverson  passacaglia was startling, jolting us out of our trance like state induced by the hypnotic percussion  rhythms. (Those  and a large glass of merlot)

The  second half of the programme exploited  the potential of  varied timbres within  Trio Elatha in various combination of solo, duo and trios.   After the arco fireworks of his colleagues, Brendan Walsh calmed us down with the soothing  timbre of pizzicato guitar strings in preludes by Villa Lobos. The evening closed with a spirited set of numbers from Trio Elatha drawing on classical and traditional elements. O Connor was extraordinary,  proving adept at mixing  it on the style front. It is rare to find a performer equally at  home in classical and traditional styles.  There was an energy and inventiveness in the trio's arrangements of familiar and new material.

The audience were for the most part in the 35-55 age bracket, younger than you might find at a more formal recital. A cocktail of elements combined to make this a good night out; a  varied   programme,   a  selection of highly accomplished engaging performers, and proximity to performers and food and drink . The 9pm start  allowed plenty of time to enjoy a dinner in the clubby first floor bar. Good value at €14.50 for 2 courses) and following the gig there was no hurrying you out of the venue as the bar stayed open to facilitate patrons and performers lingering to chat.

 Despite losing their arts council funding, the salon series continues under the stewardship of  musicians Lioba Petrie and Karen Dervan.  Long may it flourish
It takes place on the first Wednesday of each month at Odessa Club, Dame Street Dublin.  
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Cultural Events to Banish Post Festive Blues 2015

Grand Opera House 

 Mid Winter is a time when I retreat to the sofa and wrestle for domination of the remote control. But this will pass and  I enjoyed putting together this round up of cultural events to tempt culture vultures off the couch. My selection  appeared in the print edition of the Irish Examiner  on Friday 2nd January.
Arts Events Selection for month's ahead.

 Here are some further  suggestions.


Opera in Belfast .
I visited Belfast for the first time in decades back in the September  and was impressed with the scale and elegance of the city centre and the many venues. With a journey time of less than 2 hours by bus to Dublin, it is closer than I imagined.   I have a yen to see some opera in the Grand Opera House with it's splendid red brick Victorian facade.

 In February, Northern Ireland Opera present  Richard Strauss’ potent late Romantic setting of Oscar Wilde’s play based on the biblical femme fatale, Salomé.

Belfast-born Giselle Allen sings the title role of the bloodthirsty Princess .  Nicholas Chalmers conducts the Ulster Orchestra in this new production directed by Oliver Mears. There is more opera at the venue when English touring company Opera North  brings two rather more genteel   productions , to this historic venue

Opera at the Grand Opera House www.goh.co.uk

Salomé   Strauss 6-8 Feb

Marriage of Figaro Mozart  Mar 19^th and 21^th

La Travaiata Verdi Mar 18 and 20^th 

Special Consensus at Sixmilebridge

Superpowers in Galway

Festival of Youth Orchestras NCH Feb 7th

RTE Philharmonic Choir celebrate 30 years