Fleischmann: The Four Masters Overture; Sinfonia Votiva; An Cóitín Dearg Suite; Clare's Dragoons

RTÉ NSO/Robert HoulihanRTÉ Lyric FM CD 127 ****

The centenary of the birth of Cork composer Aloys Fleischmann (1910-92) has yielded a new CD of four orchestral works in late-romantic mould in efficient performances under Robert Houlihan.

The Four Masters Overture(1944) has an atmosphere that, curiously, sounds more English than Irish. Clare's Dragoons, commissioned by the Government for the Thomas Davis centenary in 1945 (with baritone Gavan Ring, the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, and Pat Fitzpatrick on warpipes) is dangerously tub-thumping.

The suite from the 1950 ballet An Cóitín Dearg(libretto by Mícheál Mac Liammóir) is altogether more attractive, and the deeply felt, sometimes Mahlerian Sinfonia Votiva of 1978, an extension of the Introduction and Funeral March of 1960, generates considerable heat. See url.ie/57c6