“Unicorn” clarinet spreads Saariaho's enchantment in Dublin

By Michael Roddy, 09 March 2019

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“Kriikku started dancing ...it became contagious and most of the violin section followed him offstage”

Reviewed at National Concert Hall: Main Stage, Dublin on 8 March 2019

Saariaho, D'om le vrai sens

Mahler, Symphony no. 7

Kari Kriikku, Clarinet

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland

Ilan Volkov, Conductor

Peter Whelan and Carlos Ferreira ignite Brahms and Weber in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 24th April

Peter Whelan drew rare urgency and transparency from Brahms, while Carlos Ferreira’s lyrical finesse elevated Weber beyond expectation.

*****

Chopin and Franck reframed with elegance and insight in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 20th March

In Dublin, Jean-Luc Tingaud and Louis Lortie bring clarity and purpose to two composers often ill at ease with the orchestra.

****1

Paradise Deferred: Shelley takes on Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri

Andrew Larkin, 13th February

Alexander Shelley tackles Schumann’s sprawling Das Paradies und die Peri with conviction, shaping real momentum and drama, even if balance issues and Thomas Moore’s cloying libretto sometimes distract.

***11

Sułkowska-Migoń’s Dublin programme crowned by a white-hot Scheherazade

Andrew Larkin, 16th January

Works by Boulanger and Shostakovich pay off handsomely before Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, shaped with dynamic control and visceral energy, crowns a vividly played concert.

****1

Michelle Cann brings out the soul in Price’s Piano Concerto in Dublin

Michael Roddy, 12th December

Florence Price’s concerto brings the Dublin audience to its feet at the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland’s latest concert.

****1

Anja Bihlmaier conducts a powerful NSO programme in Dublin

Andrew Larkin, 5th December

Scintillating Mozart meets soul-searching Bruckner as Anja Bihlmaier and the NSOI deliver a programme of vivid contrasts and compelling musical storytelling.

****1

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Michael Roddy

Michael Roddy is a freelance journalist based in Ireland who formerly covered the arts and entertainment world, as well as general and economic news, for Thomson Reuters. He has interviewed many of the world's leading conductors, singers and composers and has covered and reviewed operas, concerts and festivals throughout Europe.