RTÉ/NSO/Maloney, NCH, Dublin: Itwas a Christmas concert without too much tinsel. Proper for the time of year were Waldteufel's Skaters' Waltz and the Polonaise from Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve Suite. But there were some up- tempo perennials too: Reznicek's Donna Diana overture and the three dances from Smetena's opera The Bartered Bride.
Conductor Gavin Maloney brought a fresh and jocular feel to these old favourites, with a clear and colourful orchestral finish, and (although it didn't always come off unanimously) nuancing that was full of fun.
Four dozen perky members of RTÉ's Cór na Nóg hurried to Bethlehem in some sweetly orchestrated items by the undisputed king of carols, John Rutter.
Chorus director Máire Mannion had firmly anchored the angular melodies and jaunty cross-rhythms of Star Carol, while in the more reflective Candlelight Carol the a cappella harmony was taut and the diction crisp.
Once thought to be the work of Haydn, the celebrated Toy Symphony has for some time been pinned on Mozart's father Leopold, even though a manuscript turned up in the 1990s that attributes it to one Edmund Angerer, an obscure Austrian Benedictine.
Whoever did compose this charming little burlesque certainly had a gently impish sense of humour. Seven nursery instruments innocently disrupt the ultra-polite rococo idioms of its three petite movements.
To the polished accompaniment of a judiciously scaled-down string section, members of Cór na Nóg played the toys with aplomb.
Guileless percussion was provided on drum by Conor Igoe, on triangle by Oisín Daly, and on football rattle by Isobel O'Halloran - who also doubled on artificial nightingale.
Alison Coyne supplied additional twitterings on quail, while Ciarán Crangle generated smiles with a one-note trumpet that was deliciously off-key.
Special mention must be made of cuckoo-player Caitríona Travers, whose pivotal contributions were timed to perfection.
