MOVIES AND MUSICALS WITH AEDÍN GORMLEY
As the new year begins Aedín wishes for a good one with When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio and Cinderella sings A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. Anthony Hopkins in Shadowlands and Hannibal with stunning scores by George Fenton and Patrick Cassidy. Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot, Robert Donat impresses in The 39 Steps and Goodbye Mr Chips. Stunning scores by John Williams, including Empire of the Sun and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. French film music from Jean de Florette and Les Choristes, and hit songs from Hamilton.
RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 3rd January, 1pm-4pm
OPERA NIGHT WITH PAUL HERRIOTT
Metropolitan Opera New York presents The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Mason Bates
In this exhilarating new adaptation of Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, two Jewish cousins invent an anti-fascist superhero and launch their own comic-book series, hoping to recruit America into the fight against Nazism. Incorporating scintillating electronic elements and a variety of musical styles, composer Mason Bates's eclectic score moves seamlessly among the three worlds of Gene Scheer's libretto: Nazi-occupied Prague, the bustling streets of New York City, and the technicolor realm of comic-book fantasy. Bartlett Sher's production provides spectacular visuals to match, with towering sets and proscenium-filling projections designed by Jenny Melville and Mark Grimmer of 59 Studio. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Opening Night premiere, and baritone Andrzej Filonczyk makes his Met debut as the artist Joe Kavalier, who flees Czechoslovakia and arrives at the Brooklyn doorstep of writer Sam Clay, sung by tenor Miles Mykkanen.
RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 3rd January, 7pm-10pm
VOX NOSTRA WITH VLAD SMISHKEWYCH
Celebrate a special milestone for Vox Nostra with Vlad Smishkewych this morning. Ten years ago, on a first Sunday in January such as this, Vlad welcomed audiences to a new three-hour early music programme on RTÉ lyric fm. Since then, audiences have returned each week to tune into the stunning sounds of centuries past performed by the top musical artists of our time. Whether live on Sunday mornings, or listening back via the player, listeners know they can always count on Vlad to bring them 'a millennium of music, today'. Join Vlad for a special Vox 10th anniversary programme to kick off this year celebrating a decade of early music mornings!
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 4th January, 7am-10am
THE LYRIC FEATURE
The Forgotten Migration
In The Forgotten Migration, Chris Nikkel travels to Canada and Co. Cork to discover a largely unknown 1825 Irish migration to Ontario.
Along the way, Irish Canadian families reveal their rich folk-song tradition, passed down orally before being recorded in the 1950s by the aptly named Folklorist, Edith Fowke.
The rich cache of recorded songs-some 2000 in total-changed the way scholars view folk music in Canada, while also revealing a community holding strong to their Irish identity as they forged a new life in the backwoods of Ontario.
To reconnect with these forgotten emigrants, Amanda Slattery and the Ballyhoura Development Company invite the Ontario-Irish back to County Cork for an emotional commemoration, 200 years after their ancestors left, the first step toward remembering what has long been forgotten.
Told through rarely heard songs, and Canadian and Irish contributors, The Forgotten Migration takes us on a journey through memory, and the deep search for connection between emigrants and their home country.
Presented and produced by Chris Nikkel.
The Forgotten Migration is a Chris Nikkel production for RTÉ lyric fm, made with funding from RTÉ Independent Radio Productions and additional funding from the Royal Irish Academy's Commemoration Bursary.
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 4th January, 6pm-7pm
NIALL CARROLL'S CLASSICAL DAYTIME
Niall Carroll plays music from the heart of the classical repertoire with Sounds on Screen a piece from either the big or the small screen at 11am, and at midday Niall chooses his Five of a Kind. This week Niall chooses five pieces by the Norwegian composer, Ola Gjeilo, whose haunting contemporary choral music is a good fit for the time of year.
RTÉ lyric fm, Monday 5th January, 10am-1pm
THE FULL SCORE WITH LIZ NOLAN
Today's Full Score concert is built on the unique juxtaposition of two solo instruments accompanied by a string ensemble: two violins, transverse flute and baroque oboe, recorder and transverse flute, violin and oboe, as Il Gardellino perform music by Bach, Fasch and Telemann. Liz Nolan presents a showcase of unabridged musical masterworks, featuring live recordings of Irish and international performers, plus selections from the latest CD releases.
Bach: Concerto for Oboe, Violin, Strings and Continuo in C minor, BWV 1060R
Johan Joachim Agrell: Concerto, Op. 4/2
Fasch: Concerto for Transverse Flute, Oboe, and Strings
Vivaldi: Trio Sonata in D minor, RV 63 ('La Follia')
Vivaldi: Concerto, RV 541
Telemann: Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E minor, TWV 52:e1
Il Gardellino
RTÉ lyric fm, Monday 5th January, 1pm-4pm
LORCAN MURRAY’S CLASSIC DRIVE
On the feast of Nollaig na mBan, or 'Little Christmas' Lorcan brings you the perfect musical soundtrack with a playlist of music including a celebration of woman composers and artists. Alongside this Lorcan features his Pick of the Week: Angela Hewitt's latest release of Mozart Piano Sonatas. The relaxed and warm atmosphere of the programme invites you to slow down and enjoy the last days of the Christmas season. And with news, weather and sports, Lorcan's with you all the way!
RTÉ lyric fm, Tuesday 6th January, 4pm-7pm
CULTURE FILE PRESENTS: THE COMFORT ZONE
Luke Clancy and Colm Tóibín plus a new guest each week light out for the territories, culture-wise.
A Soundsdoable production for RTÉ lyric fm
Produced and presented by Luke Clancy
Associate producer: Niamh Daly
Subscribe to the podcasts available each Friday and Wednesday
RTÉ lyric fm, Wednesday 7th January, 9pm-9.30pm
THE FULL SCORE WITH LIZ NOLAN
Our final concert of the week comes from the National String Quartet Foundation, as we hear the Raja Quartet's concert from last August. Liz Nolan presents a showcase of unabridged musical masterworks, featuring live recordings of Irish and international performers, plus selections from the latest CD releases.
Beethoven: String Quartet Op.18 No.3
Caroline Shaw: Plan and Elevation
Milhaud: String Quartet No.1
The Raja Quartet
Phoebe White, violin
Claire Wells, violin
Martin Moriarty, viola
Callum Owens, cello
RTÉ lyric fm, Thursday 8th January, 1pm-4pm
AEDÍN IN THE AFTERNOON
Billie Holiday has her love to keep her warm, a wintery song from Tori Amos, and Nina Simone sings about a Sinnerman. Stunning music from Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, and a selection of songs from the acclaimed American singer-songwriter John Prine. Ailbhe McDonagh is inspired by Achill Island for her Irish Isles Suite and Aedín will also dip into Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes.
RTÉ lyric fm, Friday 9th January, 1pm-4pm
RTÉ LYRIC LIVE WITH PAUL HERRIOTT
On tonight's programme Paul Herriott showcases the work of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra with two concerts recorded in the autumn of 2025. First Drogheda Classical Music presents the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in a concert recorded in St Peter's Church with Mia Cooper leading the orchestra in a programme including Haydn, Vivaldi, Rossini and Schubert with soloists Emma Roche, Shaun Hooke and Eamonn Nolan. Then Paul Herriott transports us to the National Concert Hall in Dublin where Gavin Maloney conducts the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in music by Beethoven and Schubert and the orchestra is joined by renowned Irish pianist Finghin Collins for Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor.
Haydn: Symphony No. 6 'Le Matin'
Vivaldi: Piccolo Concerto in C
Vivaldi: Concerto for two Trumpets in D
Rossini: String Sonata No. 1 in G
Schubert: Symphony No. 5
Mia Cooper Leader/Director
Emma Roche, piccolo
Shaun Hooke, Eamonn Nolan, trumpets
Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus Overture
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C major
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Gavin Maloney, conductor
Finghin Collins, piano
RTÉ lyric fm, Friday 9th January, 7pm-10pm
