Irish conductor and pianist David Brophy arrived with a bang in Cologne, his new musical home, last October.
With Mise Éire – Seán Ó Riada’s soaring and searching score for the 1959 documentary – Brophy presented his calling card as a proud northside Dubliner and new principal conductor with Cologne’s WDR Funkhaus orchestra.
It’s a prominent position for the 52-year-old and, four months in, Brophy is still buzzing from the musical cocktails he is helping to mix and serve on the banks of the Rhine.
“It’s very quickly become a home from home and, though it’s still the honeymoon period, it all seems to be a good fit,” he says.
The WDR orchestra is one of Germany’s…