Belfast

An intriguing, virtuoso Belfast celebration of the Boulez centenary

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Boulez: Anthems and Dialogues: Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble (Aisling Agnew [flute], Sarah Watts [clarinet], Darragh Morgan [violin], David McCann [cello], Daniel Browell [piano]), Xenia Pestova Bennett (magnetic resonator piano), Peter O’Doherty (electronics). Sonic Lab, Queens University, Belfast, 19.10.2025. (RB)

Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble’s Boulez: Anthems and Dialogues

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Northern Ireland Opera brings Sondheim’s Follies to Belfast this month: a preview

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Robert Beattie previews NIO’s new production of Sondheim’s Follies

[l-r] Allison Harding (Hattie), Christina Nelson (Emily Whitman), Pippa Winslow (Stella), Anna-Jane Casey (Sally), Jaqueline Dankworth (Carlotta), Rachel Stanley (Solange) and Annette McLaughlin (Phyllis) © Neil Harrison Photography/NI Opera

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Federica Lombardi shines in a first-class production of Le nozze di Figaro from The Met: Live in HD

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United StatesUnited States Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Metropolitan Opera, New York / Joana Mallwitz (conductor), Metropolitan Opera, New York, performance of 26.4.2025, seen at Avenue Cinema, Belfast, 30.4.2025. (RB)

Olga Kulchynska (Susanna), Federica Lombardi (Countess) and Sun-Ly Pierce (lying, Cherubino) © Evan Zimmerman/Met Opera

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Mark Chambers bids a stylish farewell to Sestina Music with a celebration of the Concerts Spirituel

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom De Lalande, Corelli – Concert Spirituel: Sestina Music / Mark Chambers (Director), Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 25.4.2025. (RB)

Sestina Music’s Concert Spirituel at Fisherwick Presbyterian Church © Frederike Gerstner

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Intriguing programme of contemporary works performed with flair by Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Distant Plains: Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble (Aisling Agnew [flute], Sarah Watts [clarinet], David McCann [cello], Daniel Browell [piano], Michael Trainor [violin] / Matthew Lynch [conductor]. Harty Room, Queen’s University, Belfast, 13.12.2024. (RB)

Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble

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Sestina Music convey the intense spirituality of music by Charpentier and de Brossard in Belfast

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sestina Music’s Lux et Umbra – Charpentier, Sébastien de Brossard: Sestina Music (Mark Chambers [musical director / countertenor], Sarah Keating, Áine Smith [sopranos], Laoise O’Brien, Elisabeth Vogel [recorders], Sarah Groser [viols], Tristan Russcher [keyboards]). Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast, 19.9.2024. (RB)

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