Rachmaninov’s Vigil worth staying up for

Concerts by Resurgam and the RTÉ NSO and what operas producers want to put on

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A dance to the death

An Irishwoman’s Diary: One hundred years since ‘The Rite of Spring’ was first performed

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A slow-acting, addictive, dangerous drug: 200 years of Wagner

He was an opportunistic ego-maniac and his legacy was sullied by Nazism, but after two centuries, Richard Wagner’s music has lost none of its power and fury

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An early music duo, and ‘Carmen’ by way of ‘Tallafornia’

Early music was on the agenda at two concerts, while OTC’s ‘Carmen’ was defiantly contemporary

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is out of touch with the music of its own time

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is failing to engage with modern music, and this needs to change

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From intimacy on the guitar, to a percussive musical storm

Roland Dyens was in charming form at the Guitar Festival of Ireland, while Mantra Percussion tried to take the Drogheda Arts Festival by storm

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Four views of Berlin, from east to west and music to museums

Who better to ask for a tour of Berlin than some of its finest musicians, the Vogler Quartet?

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Lang Lang, Rattle, Brazil and Bell: the musical season ahead

The National Concert Hall and the Irish Baroque Orchestra have revealed ambitious programmes for the next 12 months

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It’s a European Union, but is there musical harmony?

The National Chamber Choir performed an array of ‘masterworks’, but why did so much of the enjoyment seem to be the choir’s

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Music that moves through time and space

Wagner’s music narrows the space between listener and composer like no other

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The group dynamics in an intense four-way marriage

A new film gives an accurate snapshot of the bizarre dynamics involved in a typical string quartet

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The story of a conductor

Michael Dervan talks to conductor Fergus Sheil in advance of his tour with the BBC Singers

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Celine Byrne shines as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

The Irish soprano gives a star turn in this new production by the Moscow State Opera, serving to highlight how few opportunities there are for Irish singers here

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Beware of operas bearing traditional gifts

Several opera companies are keen to play up the tradition in their productions. It’s inaccurate and unnecessary

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Twenty-four glorious voices filled a room in the Mansion House, Dublin, last weekend, as part of the Irish Youth Chamber Choir…

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'My work needs no introduction. Either it works or it doesn't'

Wrong notes aren’t a problem, opera is of little interest, and he can’t quite name any composers who have influenced him: Heiner…

The Europeans, no 8: Haydn

The Austrian composer bridged the transition from writing music for patrons to writing for a paying audience

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'I love my country to this day - probably more than it loves me'

For composer Alexander Raskatov, there’s no place like mother Russia, but he is still delighted to see one of his works get its…