Music Club with Liz Nolan

Liz Nolan, RTÉ Lyric fm is back to present a five-night series exploring the evolution of divas, the cultural mix of American music, and the phenomenon of Ma Vlast among others.

How divas shaped the course of opera. Music Club is back, and in the best of company- as we pay homage to the careers and lives of legendary female opera stars from across four centuries of this chameleon form.

It’s pioneer spirit to the fore, as Music Club charts the trajectory of American music, with its constant quest for national identity in this greatest of cultural melting pots.

It’s one of music’s strangest fairy tales- how a touring ballet company, formed by an impecunious aristocrat, went on to change the face of Western arts. Music Club is set to hop on board with Sergei Diaghilev and his iconic Ballets Russes troupe, in company with Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, de Falla, Poulenc, and more.

Born as a sacred counterpart to its sibling opera, Music Club follows the many transformations of oratorio- as an expression of religious faith, of social power, and of cultural community.

A Romantic phenomenon, the cause of Nationalism swept through society and the arts across the 19th century and beyond. Music Club pays tribute to masterworks born of patriotism, from Grieg and Smetana to Sibelius, Debussy and O’Riada.