DAYBREAK WITH EVONNE FERGUSON
Evonne Ferguson will be up with the early birds to ease you into the weekend with her selections of music from across the centuries plus news and weather and the beginning of a new series of ecologist Anja Murray's Nature File at 9.15
Nature File Season 10 Episode 3: Snails
From garden snails to rare woodland snails and tincy tiny sand dune specialists, Ireland is a haven for snails. Integral to almost every food web, though often overlooked, this week's Nature File looks at the role of snails in our hedges, woods, fens and fields.
RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 18th April, 7am-10am
OPERA NIGHT WITH PAUL HERRIOTT
The Metropolitan Opera New York presents Innocence by Saariaho
Depicting the wide web of trauma left in the wake of a school shooting, the late, great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's final opera is a raw and unflinching cri de coeur in response to the senseless violence of our modern age. Captivating with its eerie, darkly beautiful sound-world and diverse vocal styles, ranging from traditional opera to expressionistic speak-singing to Scandinavian folk music, Innocence, with libretto by prominent Finnish author Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière, was greeted upon its 2021 premiere by awestruck reviews and hailed as 'completely exhilarating' (The New York Times), 'a modern masterpiece' (The Telegraph). For its Met premiere-in Simon Stone's powerfully direct original production-the cast is anchored by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Finnish ethno-pop singer Vilma Jää as a grieving mother and the daughter she lost in the shooting, as well as soprano Jacquelyn Stucker and tenor Miles Mykkanen as a young couple whose wedding, a decade after the tragedy, uncovers buried secrets and reopens old wounds. Maestro Susanna Mälkki, a close friend and collaborator of Saariaho's, conducts what she calls 'one of the most important works of our time.'
RTÉ lyric fm, Saturday 18th April, 7pm-10pm
Photo | Met Opera
VOX NOSTRA WITH VLAD SMISHKEWYCH
Sacred and secular passions meet on Vox Nostra this Sunday morning, as Vlad explores the richly expressive worlds of Sebastián Durón, Sigismondo d'India and Giacomo Carissimi. Durón's music offers both Iberian theatrical flair and devotional depth, while d'India and Carissimi open a window onto the intensity and invention of the Italian 17th century. With intimate vocal writing, larger sacred drama, and music of striking emotional directness, the music of these composers springboards us into the second half of April. A special highlight of the programme is a recent recording by La Grande Chapelle titled The Forty Hours Devotion, featuring Durón's sacred music for voices and instruments.
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 19th April, 7am-10am
RTÉ LYRIC LIVE: NEW MUSIC DUBLIN
Join RTÉ lyric fm's Paul Herriott and Artistic Director of New Music Dublin, John Harris as they co-present tonight's concert from New Music Dublin. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra performs works by Jane O'Leary and Kevin O'Connell as part of New Music Dublin 2026. Under the baton of RTÉ Concert Orchestra Associate Principal Conductor Gavin Maloney, the orchestra is joined by soprano Aoife Miskelly, baritone Seán Boylan and internationally renowned chamber choir, New Dublin Voices (artistic director Bernie Sherlock).
The programme features Kevin O'Connell's Paradiso, a listening to Dante's third cantica for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, and is preceded by Jane O'Leary's Fanfare: From 2RN to RTÉ - composed in celebration of RTÉ 100, marking a century since the state's first public radio transmission.
Jane O'Leary Fanfare: From 2RN to RTÉ - Celebrating 100 Years (World Premiere)
Kevin O'Connell Paradiso (World Premiere)
Aoife Miskelly, soprano
Seán Boylan, baritone
New Dublin Voices
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Gavin Maloney, conductor
RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday 19th April, 7pm-9pm
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 each day Niall chooses his Five of a Kind. This week we'll hear all five movements from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
RTÉ lyric fm, Monday 20th April, 10am-1pm
THE FULL SCORE WITH LIZ NOLAN
Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major is a vibrant mix of lively woodwind tones, shimmering piano passages, relaxed jazz motifs, and Basque folk music- an ideal showcase for star pianist Lang Lang as he joins the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Paavo Järvi also presents the late-Romantic Symphony No. 1 by Hans Rott - a piece in which influences from his teacher Anton Bruckner are evident, as well as those from Gustav Mahler, with whom Rott studied composition. Liz Nolan presents a showcase of unabridged musical masterworks, featuring live recordings of Irish and international performers, plus selections from the latest CD releases.
Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
Hans Rott: Symphony No. 1 in E
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Lang Lang, piano
Paavo Järvi, conductor
RTÉ lyric fm, Tuesday 21st April, 1pm-4pm
MARTY IN THE MORNING
Marty chats to Artistic Director of Wexford Festival Opera, Rosetta Cucchi, about her plans for their 75th anniversary in October which include beloved operas from previous festivals, world premiere works by Irish artists including Ailís Ní Ríain and Colm Tóibín, and special guest artists including world-renowned tenor Joseph Calleja.
RTÉ lyric fm, Wednesday 22nd April, 7am-10am
THE FULL SCORE WITH LIZ NOLAN
The National String Quartet Foundation provide the concert for today's Full Score as we'll hear the Ficino Quartet's concert from last year, including the first performance of Siobhan Cleary's Reel du Pendu, a traditional Québécois reel surrounded by folklore and tales of escape and survival including the tale of a condemned man who escaped execution by creating and performing the tune. Liz Nolan presents a showcase of unabridged musical masterworks, featuring live recordings of Irish and international performers, plus selections from the latest CD releases.
Shostakovich: String Quartet No.10
Caroline Shaw: Valencia
Siobhán Cleary: Reel du Pendu
Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 59 No.1 Rasoumovsky
Ficino Quartet: Elaine Clark, violin; Lynda O'Connor, violin; Nathan Sherman, viola; Ailbhe McDonagh, cello.
RTÉ lyric fm, Thursday 23rd April, 1pm-4pm
AEDÍN IN THE AFTERNOON
Aedín features a new release entitled Rendez-vous from Franco-Belgian cellist Camille Thomas and French pianist Julien Brocal. The duo have recorded an original composition and then an improvisation, or a dialogue bridging composers and eras. Things take a jazzy turn with New York jazz musician Bryan Eng who has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents today showcasing his talents as singer, pianist, arranger, and orchestrator. Stunning works by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, and closer to home great recordings from The Gloaming and Ailbhe McDonagh
RTÉ lyric fm, Friday 24th April, 1pm-4pm
RTÉ LYRIC LIVE WITH PAUL HERRIOTT
Join Paul Herriott live from the stage of the National Concert Hall in Dublin as National Symphony Orchestra Ireland's new Artistic Partner, Peter Whelan, makes his second appearance this season to partner with clarinettist, Carlos Ferreira, in his NSOI debut with Weber's First Clarinet Concerto.
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn
Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Peter Whelan, conductor
Carlos Ferreira, clarinet
RTÉ lyric fm, Friday 24th April, 7pm-10pm
