New Year Round Up

Play within a play 

January is almost half way through and the short days lend themselves to hibernating and sitting in by the fire. Nevertheless, although the gadding about is somewhat restrained for time being, there are some events that I want to keep in mind so here is a round up of the first fortnight.

Met Live in cinema; Adriana Lecouvreur Cilea. I had missed the first half of the season of live cinema screenings. It isn't the same as being there. Of course not. It is in some ways much better. Imagine arriving in the stalls at Covent Garden with your bumper pack of popcorn and as for having a little snooze- well I imagine that might  be frowned on. Anyway, I loved the Met Live production of Adriana Lecouvreur. I didn't close my eyes once. The NY Times review here.  .https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/arts/music/review-adriana-lecouvreur-metropolitan-opera.html I agree with the NYT that terrific as the main leads were, Ambrogio Maestri as Michonnet stole the show.

Hurrah for High Street Music Shops
There is much doom and gloom about the state of the retail sector in the air these days. I like browsing in music shops and it is encouraging to see  independnt music shops keep their foothold in the high street between mobile phones and the rag trade. I can't imagine going to Cork and not putting my head into Eileen Madden's emporium at Pro Music in Oliver Plunkett St. Ben O'Neill has been in business in Dungarvan for even longer, I think five decades. Michael John Ryan continues the family tradition in Tipp town. I spent a pleasant hour in John Palmer's music shop talking to him about his 30 years of great service to Waterford musicians at his shop in Gladstone Street for a upcoming article. If you have an anecdote to share about your favourite music shop do contact me.

 Radio Highlights:
Sleepless nights speed by with the aid of  ear phones and the BBC radio app.  I haven't yet got the podcast habit. It is so easy to browse the schedule to find something good. I never listen to Radio 4 Extra during the day but at night it is a perfect companion. Here were my favourites so far this year.


Great Lives Ken Dodd on Stan Laurel. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mdf0d

The Moth Hour Hope and Glory https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001pzy amazing first hand stories stories of army life from theatres around America



https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001sth In Poetry Extra, poet Daljit Nagra introduces poets talking about their work. You might still catch Thomas Lynch but my pick is British poet John Hegley talking about the Finnish epic poem Karavela.


My first published piece of the year is a round-up  of upcoming arts events. It  appeared in today's edition of the Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/a-selection-of-upcoming-classical-and-opera-events-that-you-wont-want-to-miss-897245.html