The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra will return to live performance this Friday 11 September with ‘RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra LIVE’, a new series of 12 concerts live-streamed on the RTÉ Culture website and broadcast live on RTÉ Lyric FM.

The first three concerts will come from the stage of the National Concert Hall at 7pm and will be presented by Lyric’s Paul Herriott.

The opening concert will see David Brophy conducting Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture, Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 (featuring RTÉ NSO principal flautist Catriona Ryan) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.

On 18 September, which is Culture Night, Gavin Maloney will conduct the Romanian Folk Dances by Bartók, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto (featuring John Finucane), and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4.

On Friday 25 September, Brophy will conduct a programme of Irish work, including the late Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin’s Bean Dubh an Ghleanna and Oileán, John Kinsella’s Nocturne for Strings, Arthur Duff’s Echoes of Georgian Dublin, and three works by Neil Martin (The Fairy Queen, Danny Boy and The Humours of Ballyloughlin). The soloist for the concert is uilleann piper and flautist Mark Redmond.

Plans for the remaining concerts will be announced soon. They include three concerts in October with the orchestra’s Chief Conductor Jaime Martín.

Speaking about the series, Anthony Long, RTÉ NSO General Manager, said:

We are thrilled to get back to rehearsing and performing for an audience. Changed times require new approaches and we return with the same determination to bring audiences some of the greatest music from past and present. This series of popular and classical music has been designed for a broad audience and to ensure the involvement of Irish artists and our Chief Conductor Jaime Martín.

Due to public health guidelines, the series will feature a symphony orchestra of no more than 37 players and performances will take place without an audience. 

For more, visit https://orchestras.rte.ie/whats-on/