Cathal Breslin (piano), RTÉ NSO/Robert Houlihan, RTÉCO/Proinnsías Ó Duinn RTÉ lyric fm CD136 ****

This gap-filling new Seán Ó Riada compilation concentrates on the composer's years of promise in his 20s. The mostly jolly OlynthiacOverture (1955) and mostly pastoral Banks of Sullane (1956) are clearly conceived as concert openers. The more substantial Hercules Dux Ferrariae(1957) for strings, widely regarded as Ó Riada's best work, is an Irish musical landmark that grapples interestingly with 12-tone and Renaissance material. Issues of style and structure dog the sometimes awkwardly dissonant Seoladh na nGamhna(1959). And Nomos No 4 (1958) loses the plot in a way that causes its collage to sound arbitrary rather than adventurous. The celebrated Mise Éire Suite(1959) features, too, as well as Mná na hÉireann with the striking voice of Seán Ó Sé. See url.ie/dgar