National Symphony Orchestra
Killian Farrell conductor
Gavan Ring tenor
Presented by Liz Nolan, RTÉ lyric fm
Rossini L’italiana in Algeri Overture
Mozart ‘Un’aura amorosa’ (Cosí fan tutte) Puccini ‘E lucevan le stelle’ (Tosca)
Puccini Intermezzo from Suor Angelica
Massenet Suite No. 5, Scènes napolitaines – La danse and La fête
Donizetti ‘Ah mes amis’ (La fille du regiment)
Mascagni Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, ‘Italian’ – Saltarello

Take a midsummer sojourn to Italy with two thrilling musicians and the National Symphony Orchestra as your guides to love at its most lyrical amidst the Mediterranean’s sun-kissed landscape. Newly appointed Kappellmeister at the Staatsoper in Stuttgart, conductor Killian Farrell returns home to show off the qualities that saw Neue Musikzeitung describe him as ‘a firework of drama and poetry. And any appearance by the ‘wonderfully rich, agile voice’ (OperaWire) of baritone-turned-tenor Gavin Ring is simply not to missed.

The Overture to Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri gets things off to a brisk, bracing start, the vivacious whirlwind energy of Massenet’s Scènes napolitaines transporting you to Naples for two exhilarating dances before the finale to Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony leads from Neapolitan delights to the Eternal City itself, Rome. En route, there will be ample pauses for breath with the tender, daydreaming beauties of Puccini’s Intermezzo from Suor Angelica and the blissfully luxurious melodies of the Intermezzo from Mascagni’s Sicilian-set Cavalleria Rusticana.There is no more hauntingly beautiful tenor aria than ‘Un’aura Amorosa's (‘The breath of love’) from Mozart’s Così fan Tutte, and none more exhilarating than ‘Ah mes ami!’ (Ah, my friends’) from Donizetti’s ebullient comic opera, La fille du regiment.