Adrian Smith is Lecturer in Musicology at TU Dublin Conservatoire.
Adrian Smith
Irish National Opera presented Puccini's 'La bohème' at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin on 20–26 November. Adrian Smith reviews.
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (17–26 November) has a particular focus on music from Ireland this year, as well as works from Lithuania, Rebecca Saunders, Laura Bowler, Angharad Davies and more. Adrian Smith reviews the opening weekend.
Composer Ed Bennett and cellist Kate Ellis have this month released 'Strange Waves', a new record on the Ergodos label. Adrian Smith reviews.
The world premiere of 'Oscailt', a new work by Jennifer Walshe, took place at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Dublin on Tuesday 19 September. Adrian Smith reviews.
The National Symphony Orchestra's new season begins on Friday 8 September, the second full season since it moved to the NCH. Adrian Smith looks ahead to some of the highlights and also considers the orchestra's programming of new music.
'The Blue Light', a new album by composer Garrett Sholdice, has just been released on the Ergodos label. Adrian Smith reviews.
The 2023 Music Current festival took place last week (12–15 April) at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin, featuring works by Francis Heery, Jaki Irvine, Michael Maierhof, Jessie Marino, Simon Steen-Anderson and Michael Beil, with performers Nadar Ensemble, Dublin Sound Lab and more. Adrian Smith reviews.
Irish National Opera presented Richard Strauss' 'Der Rosenkavalier', starring Celine Byrne, Paula Murrihy and Claudia Boyle, at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin on 5–11 March. Adrian Smith reviews.
The world premiere of a new opera by Evangelia Rigaki and Marina Carr, 'Old Ghosts', inspired by 'Ulysses', took place last week at the Museum of Literature Ireland in Dublin. Adrian Smith reviews.
Last week the National Symphony Orchestra performed four world premieres by Irish composers – orchestral works by Adam McCartney, Seán O’Dálaigh, Judith Ring and Karen Power. Adrian Smith reviews.
There have been renewed calls for a boycott of Russian culture, but many Russian artists are at odds with the regime and we should support them, writes Adrian Smith.
The Chineke! Orchestra, Europe's first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, made their Irish debut at the NCH on 13 November, with soloist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. Adrian Smith reviews.
Irish National Opera's 'William Tell' – the first production of the Rossini opera in Ireland for 145 years – opened at the Gaiety Theatre on 8 November and runs until Sunday. Adrian Smith reviews.
The newly formed Pirosmani Quartet (Mairéad Hickey, William Hagen, Georgy Kovalev and Aleksey Shadrin) performed works by Seán Doherty, Beethoven and Brahms at the NCH on 23 October, the final date of a nationwide tour presented by the National String Quartet Foundation. Adrian Smith reviews.
The Fidelio Trio have recently released an album of chamber works by Gerald Barry, most of which have never been recorded previously. Adrian Smith reviews.
'Out of the Ordinary/As an nGnách', a new opera by Finola Merivale and Jody O’Neill experienced through virtual reality, is currently running as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. Adrian Smith reviews.
New Music Dublin returned last week with a fully live event from 28 April to 1 May, and 39 world premieres. Adrian Smith reviews.
Beyond the activist punk band Pussy Riot, a number of popular rock, pop and rap artists in Russia have been making their voices heard on the invasion of Ukraine – in the face of oppressive new laws – while others have chosen to stay silent. Adrian Smith explores the nature of dissent through music in Russia at this critical time.
The National Symphony Orchestra presented two concerts for International Women’s Day featuring a range of works by female composers with soloists Catriona Ryan, Louise Mulcahy, Sharon Shannon, Ava Dodd, Zoë Conway and AIS. Adrian Smith reviews.
A cultural boycott of Russia has been emerging over the past two weeks following the invasion of Ukraine, but we have to reflect on how it is being implemented and what it hopes to achieve, writes Adrian Smith.
The National Symphony Orchestra has now officially transferred from RTÉ to the National Concert Hall. What does it mean for the future of the group? Adrian Smith explores the question and suggests six ways that the NSO could have a positive start in its new home.
The 9th Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival took place last weekend with featured artist Francesco Paolo Scola and works by Kevin Volans, Irene Buckley, Berio, Ustvolskaya, Stravinsky, Korngold and more. Adrian Smith reviews.
Irish National Opera have just released a film version online of Gerald Barry's anarchic opera 'Alice’s Adventures Under Ground', with Claudia Boyle as Alice. Adrian Smith reviews.
Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh's new opera, 'The First Child', premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival at the weekend. Adrian Smith reviews.
A collection of songs by Ina Boyle has been just released on Delphian Records and features Paula Murrihy, Robin Tritschler, Ben McAteer and Iain Burnside performing 33 works by the twentieth-century Irish composer. Adrian Smith reviews.
In July, the Dutch Ragazze Quartet premiered Garth Knox's new work 'Four Into Twenty' as part of the online West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Adrian Smith reviews.
The world premiere of David Fennessy's 'Rosewoods' for guitar and orchestra took place on Monday 21 June as part of the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival. Adrian Smith reviews.
The 8th edition of New Music Dublin, Ireland's largest festival of contemporary music, took place on 23–26 April, this time online. With 33 world premieres and a weekend full of concerts, did it manage to maintain the momentum of recent years? Adrian Smith reviews.
Composer Nick Roth's new work 'Crann' is a poem setting and film work for three voices, tree, vessel and currach, commissioned by the literary festival IMRAM. Adrian Smith reviews.
Responding to the circumstances of the pandemic, Irish National Opera recently commissioned twenty new miniature operas from composers in Ireland that were filmed and premiered online as '20 Shots of Opera'. Adrian Smith reviews all twenty works.
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