Five Beethoven Concertos by RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra

Over 5 Fridays 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos 5 Irish pianists

5 great symphonies 5 major orchestral works by 5 Irish composers of our time

TICKETS FROM â&#x201A;Ź12 BUY ALL 5 CONCERTS: SAVE 10%

FRIDAY 12 JUNE 8pm

KINSELLA Cúchulainn and Ferdia – Duel at the Ford

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C V

DVORÁK Symphony No. 8 in G

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Robert Houlihan conductor Isabelle O’Connell piano

Summertime, and the living is… busy, bold and brilliant as our survey of Beethoven’s piano concertos begins with the irresistibly infectious First Concerto courtesy of internationally in-demand ‘young Irish piano phenom’ (The New Yorker) Isabelle O’Connell. Our focus on Irish composers kicks off with a work commissioned by RTÉ for the orchestra’s 60th anniversary in 2008, John Kinsella’s Cúchulainn and Ferdia, a dramatic work drawing inspiration from the legend of the epic ‘duel at the ford’. To finish, Dvorák’s folk-inspired Eighth Symphony bursting with many of his most inspired melodies and an exuberant start to the first of the five great symphonies on offer this June and July with the RTÉ NSO. V

TICKETS €12, €20, €26, €32, €35 (Limited concessions available: €10, €18, €23.40, €28.80, €31.50) BUY ALL 5 CONCERTS: SAVE 10% All 5 concerts: €54, €90, €117, €144, €157.50

BOOKING National Concert Hall Box office: 01 417 0000, www.nch.ie or www.rte.ie/nso

FRIDAY 19 JUNE 8pm

WILSON Man-o’-War

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat

PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B flat As part of the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s Beethoven Project

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Gavin Maloney conductor Maria McGarry piano Ian Wilson’s thrusting Man-o’-War provides a blistering introduction to a concert of high drama and heartfelt emotions. The first of two concerts in collaboration with the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s Beethoven Project showcases the ‘instinctive imagination and musicianship’ (The Irish Times) of soloist and RIAM alumni Maria McGarry in the classical elegance of this the earliest of the five piano concertos to be written, a work characterised by youthful energy and poetic vision. To end, Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, a brightly heroic tribute to ‘the greatness of the human spirit; a song of praise of free and happy mankind’.

BOOKING National Concert Hall Box office: 01 417 0000, www.nch.ie or www.rte.ie/nso

FRIDAY 26 JUNE 8pm

FENNESSY Prologue (Silver are the Tears of the Moon) IRISH PREMIERE

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor

BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique As part of the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s Beethoven Project

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Courtney Lewis conductor Peter Tuite piano David Fennessy’s Prologue (Silver are the Tears of the Moon), inspired by the extraordinary tale of operatic obsession depicted in Werner Herzog’s film Fitzcarraldo, conjures a magical sound world of opera amidst the rain forests. His peers, the New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor Courtney Lewis and pianist Peter Tuite – respectively hailed by The Irish Times as ‘the best young Irish conducting talent I’ve heard in more than two decades’ and ‘a musician of a different cast’ – team up for Beethoven’s emotionally compelling Third Piano Concerto in the second of two concerts taking place as part of the Royal Irish Academy of Music’s Beethoven Project. To end, Berlioz’s groundbreaking programmatic symphony, a high point of early romanticism telling a tale of unrequited love and intense emotion brought vividly to life through a unique musical voice and astonishing use of orchestral colour. TICKETS €12, €20, €26, €32, €35 (Limited concessions available: €10, €18, €23.40, €28.80, €31.50) BUY ALL 5 CONCERTS: SAVE 10% All 5 concerts: €54, €90, €117, €144, €157.50

BOOKING National Concert Hall Box office: 01 417 0000, www.nch.ie or www.rte.ie/nso

FRIDAY 3 JULY 8pm

BODLEY A small white cloud drifts over Ireland

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4 in G

COPLAND Symphony No. 3

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Ciaran McAuley conductor Michael McHale piano Our summer showcase of Irish musical talent combined with Beethoven’s piano concertos and some truly great symphonies continues in considerable style with: Seóirse Bodley’s exquisite A small white cloud drifts over Ireland, from 1975, using distinctive and subtle inflections of traditional music to illuminate an altogether contemporary musical landscape. Michael McHale – ‘a young pianist whose international career is in serious take-off mode’ (Sunday Business Post) – playing Beethoven’s now poetic, now robust Fourth Symphony. Copland’s Third Symphony, regarded by many as the great American symphony of the twentieth century, a full expression of that composer’s unique ability to eloquently capture the essence of a place and its people. Its grandeur and poetry offer an inspiring and positive affirmation of the human spirit. TICKETS €12, €20, €26, €32, €35 (Limited concessions available: €10, €18, €23.40, €28.80, €31.50) BUY ALL 5 CONCERTS: SAVE 10% All 5 concerts: €54, €90, €117, €144, €157.50

BOOKING National Concert Hall Box office: 01 417 0000, www.nch.ie or www.rte.ie/nso

FRIDAY 10 JULY 8pm

DEANE Samara RTÉ COMMISSION

SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat, ‘The Emperor’

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Gavin Maloney conductor Hugh Tinney piano

Raymond Deane’s Samara (2005) demonstrates this composer’s exceptional ability to create a musical response to the imagery of a natural phenomenon, the title being a reference to the winged seed of certain trees, disseminated by the wind. Samara is the perfect companion piece for Sibelius’s magisterial Seventh Symphony, which compresses epic sweep and Parnassian grandeur into a concentrated form, surging with all the vitality and urgency of a river in gathering flood. And what better way to conclude our series of Beethoven piano concertos than with the ‘spellbinding’ Hugh Tinney at the keyboard for the mighty ‘Emperor’?

BOOKING National Concert Hall Box office: 01 417 0000, www.nch.ie or www.rte.ie/nso

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