Dieter Kaegi

The festival’s favoured production style is at the gag-rich, pantomime end of the spectrum

The American conductor died on Saturday, hours before he was due to conduct the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in Dublin

Smart money still on the Wide Open Opera/Opera Theatre Company bid to become the council’s new major opera supplier

The Brussels Philharmonic made a stylish debut at the NCH, but Mozart at Lismore Music Festival needed a lighter touch

The looseness of the ensemble and problems with co-ordination proved largely insurmountable

A century on, Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ still has the power to shock and awe, and musicians are still finding ways to transform it