Press Release: Tuesday 2nd June 2015
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Contempo Quartet join forces
with Galway International Arts Festival
The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Contempo Quartet will debut at Galway International Arts Festival this July. The new development will result in a weekend of orchestral and chamber music masterworks: five concerts over three days with a line up including major conducting star John Wilson – ahead of two appearances at this year’s BBC Proms, the mesmerising German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, the internationally acclaimed Irish pianist Finghin Collins and the Galway based RTÉ Contempo Quartet making a welcome return to the Festival, their first appearance since 2010, and making their debut Festival performance as the RTÉ Quartet in Residence.
The weekend has been designed to offer festival goers an immersive experience in some of the greatest works in classical music: two of the great symphonies by Rachmaninov and Nielsen; the magisterial ‘Emperor’ piano concerto by Beethoven; Elgar’s iconic cello concerto, late, great Schubert masterpieces and the world premiere of Kevin O’Connell’s Early Music inspired by a love affair with…early music!
Conductor John Wilson is a firm favourite with Irish audiences. He leads the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in four works from the heart of the orchestral repertoire: the Elgar Cello Concerto with German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich taking centre stage; Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto with Finghin Collins; Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, with its heartfelt and achingly beautiful Adagio, and Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4. ‘The Inextinguishable’, a monumental testimony to ‘the elemental will to live’. Completing the orchestral mix, the world premiere of Kevin O’Connell’s homage to Early Music, a loving, lively and colourful tribute to the pristine sounds of the era before Bach, deliciously enhanced by the rich sonorities of a modern orchestra.
The RTÉ Contempo Quartet leads the weekend’s exploration of chamber music written during Schubert’s final years, works which reveal a creative spirit at the very height of its considerable powers shaped by an intense involvement with matters of the heart and, perhaps, premonitions of his own mortality. Glorious music features with the exquisite bittersweet of the Quartettsatz; the Death and the Maiden Quartet, one of the true masterpieces of the quartet repertoire; the String Quintet in C (with Leonard Elschenbroich), regarded by many as his greatest creation for chamber forces, and the expansive Octet with members of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra sharing the stage.
Welcoming this new departure, John O’Kane, Executive Director, RTÉ Orchestras, Quartet and Choirs said: ‘The Galway International Arts Festival is important because it enables people to encounter the arts in a uniquely dynamic and relaxed environment, providing an oasis away from routine and responsibilities. RTÉ are here to play a part in that heady mixture, by creating an opportunity for festival goers to encounter great classical music alongside the other artforms that the festival showcases. The mix of programmes offered by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Contempo Quartet is intended to afford people an ideal opportunity to encounter this amazing and full blooded music in the type of special context that only a great festival can provide.’
Artistic Director of Galway International Arts Festival Paul Fahy added, ‘We are delighted to have such a sensational weekend programme of orchestral and chamber masterworks with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Contempo Quartet as part of this year’s Festival. Add to that, the brilliance of conductor John Wilson, along with guest soloists Leonard Elschenbroich and Finghin Collins, all of which promises a truly wonderful series of concerts. This new programming element is a hugely exciting prospect for our audiences and an exciting new dimension to the Festival.’
The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and RTÉ Contempo Quartet will perform in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway starting with Schubert: The Quartet and Beyond 1 on Friday 17th July at 1pm; Schubert: The Quartet Beyond 2 with Leonard Elschenbroich on Saturday 18th July at 1pm; and Schubert: The Quartet and Beyond 3 with RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra musicians John Finucane, Bethan Watkeys, Hilary Sheil and Dominic Dudley on Sunday 19th July at 1pm; Orchestral Masterworks 1 will feature Leonard Elschenbroich and John Wilson on Friday 17th July at 6pm, Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway; and Orchestral Masterworks 2 featuring Finghin Collins and John Wilson on Saturday 18th July at 6pm, Bailey Allen Hall.
Full details on www.rte.ie/nso
Tickets and booking at www.giaf.ie
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For further press information, please contact
Assumpta Lawless, Marketing & Communications Manager, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra
assumpta.lawless@rte.ie | Direct line: 01 208 2769 | Mobile: 087 290 4168