RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The RTÉ
Concert Orchestra is one of the two full time professional orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to become an active 45-strong orchestra performing over eighty concerts annually. In 2007 David Brophy
took the position of Principal Conductor. It is part of RTÉ Performing Groups
.
, presenter of the popular radio programme ‘Music for Middlebrows’.
It has recorded extensively on the Naxos and Marco Polo labels, with many of its recordings available as CD or download. More recently the orchestra records for the Lyric fm label, including a recording of some of Ireland’s top young soloists ‘Four X Four’ featuring Ioana Petcu-Colan
, Aishling Casey, John Ryan and Cliona Doris, and contemporary works by composers like Ciarán Farrell
, in ‘Perfect State’.
On 12 February 2009 the orchestra joined with Our Lady's Choral Society, Dublin, to perform at the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vatican
State celebrations with a performance of 'The Messiah
', by Handel in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI
. It was the first time this famous work was performed in the Vatican.
, the orchestra has also worked with visiting artists including Denis O'Neill, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri te Kanawa. Since 1993 it played for all Opera Ireland productions where it performed typically four full productions per year over the spring and winter opera seasons. Well known operas by the Italian masters and others were performed along with more modern works such as ‘Dead Man Walking’ by Jake Heggie (performed 2007), and Previn’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (performed 2006). It has recorded Irish composer’s William Vincent Wallace’s ‘Maritana’ for Marco Polo label, and in 2008 performed Balfe’s ‘Falstaff’, another Irish opera not performed since 1838. This historic performance was released later in 2008 on CD as a live recording.
defined the style of the orchestra and this tradition has continued with its current membership and arranging team as well as conductors. Visiting conductors like Bobby Lamb
, Brian Byrne and John Wilson (conductor)
helped develop the orchestra’s repertoire and style. Lamb worked with the orchestra from the 1980s, bringing with him well known soloists, and playing many of his own arrangements and compositions. Wilson works regularly to recreate the arrangements and playing style of the golden Hollywood era of the 1940s to 1960s. In January 2009 John Wilson was appointed principal guest conductor of the orchestra.
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra combined with the Mooney
radio programme and the RTÉ radio audience to create Mooney Tunes from the Grand Canal Theatre
for RTÉ over Christmas 2011, an obvious pun on the similarity between the presenter's name and the word "Looney" as used in Looney Tunes
, the Warner Bros.
animated cartoon
series.
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
Concert Orchestra is one of the two full time professional orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to become an active 45-strong orchestra performing over eighty concerts annually. In 2007 David Brophy
David Brophy
David Brophy is an Irish conductor. He is the Principal Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.- Biography :David Brophy was born in Dublin. He studied in Ireland, England and Holland. He previously conducted the National Chamber Choir of Ireland and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, before...
took the position of Principal Conductor. It is part of RTÉ Performing Groups
RTÉ Performing Groups
RTÉ Performing Groups is a group of five classical ensembles, part of the Irish broadcaster RTÉ. All but the Vanbrugh Quartet are based in Dublin .- RTÉ Performing Groups :...
.
Classical
The orchestra performs classical evening and lunchtime concerts under its principal conductor, David Brophy, and guest conductors, covering a range of music from baroque to contemporary. The period from 2003-2006 saw a particular emphasis on the classical repertoire under the orchestras then principal conductor Laurent Wagner. In this period the orchestra moved to a more ‘serious’ range of repertoire compared to the ‘lighter’ side that dominated under its previous principal conductor Proinnsias O’Duinn from 1978 to 2003, leading to collaboration with comperes such as Des KeoghDes Keogh
Des Keogh is an Irish actor. He was born in 1935 in Birr, County Offaly. He was trained as a lawyer before entering the theatre in his 20s.He has toured widely in a one-man show called The Love-Hungry Farmer, an adaptation by Keogh from a work by the Irish playwright John B. Keane...
, presenter of the popular radio programme ‘Music for Middlebrows’.
It has recorded extensively on the Naxos and Marco Polo labels, with many of its recordings available as CD or download. More recently the orchestra records for the Lyric fm label, including a recording of some of Ireland’s top young soloists ‘Four X Four’ featuring Ioana Petcu-Colan
Ioana Petcu-Colan
Ioana Petcu-Colan is an Irish violinist of Romanian origin, currently living in Barcelona, Spain.-Biography:Ioana Petcu-Colan, born in January 1978 in Cork, Ireland is the daughter of Adrian Petcu and of Ruxandra Colan-Petcu, both her parents being musicians...
, Aishling Casey, John Ryan and Cliona Doris, and contemporary works by composers like Ciarán Farrell
Ciarán Farrell
Ciarán Farrell is an Irish composer who has been active in his field since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1997...
, in ‘Perfect State’.
On 12 February 2009 the orchestra joined with Our Lady's Choral Society, Dublin, to perform at the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
State celebrations with a performance of 'The Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
', by Handel in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
. It was the first time this famous work was performed in the Vatican.
Opera
In addition to regular operatic gala concert performances with noted Irish international artists like Cara O’Sullivan, Orla Boylan, Mary Hegarty, Regina Nathan, Majella Cullagh and Virginia KerrVirginia Kerr
Virginia Kerr is a prominent Irish soprano who appears frequently in concerts, opera, oratorio and recitals.She has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Hallé and the Royal...
, the orchestra has also worked with visiting artists including Denis O'Neill, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Dame Kiri te Kanawa. Since 1993 it played for all Opera Ireland productions where it performed typically four full productions per year over the spring and winter opera seasons. Well known operas by the Italian masters and others were performed along with more modern works such as ‘Dead Man Walking’ by Jake Heggie (performed 2007), and Previn’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (performed 2006). It has recorded Irish composer’s William Vincent Wallace’s ‘Maritana’ for Marco Polo label, and in 2008 performed Balfe’s ‘Falstaff’, another Irish opera not performed since 1838. This historic performance was released later in 2008 on CD as a live recording.
Educational
The orchestra's primary educational initiative is the 'Music in the Classroom' series, conducted and devised by Gearóid Grant. The orchestra performs about 24 concerts per year, with audience numbers at about one thousand primary school children per concert.Jazz/Swing
While a regular feature since the earlier days of the orchestra, with the expansion of the orchestra in the 1960s and players like Benny McNeill, Davy Martin, trumpets, John Tate and Harry Knowles, trombones, the orchestra has been a leading performer of jazz and big band repertoire. Arrangements by John Tate and Noel KelehanNoel Kelehan
Noel Kelehan is an Irish musician, former conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and former musical director of Radio Telefís Éireann. He retired as conductor in 1998.-Bio:...
defined the style of the orchestra and this tradition has continued with its current membership and arranging team as well as conductors. Visiting conductors like Bobby Lamb
Bobby Lamb
Robert "Bobby" Lamb is an Irish jazz trombonist.Lamb started on euphonium at age 11 before settling on trombone. He moved to London in the early 1950s, playing with Teddy Foster , Jack Parnell , and Ted Heath. He spent part of the 1950s in the U.S., working with Charlie Barnet, Stan Kenton, and...
, Brian Byrne and John Wilson (conductor)
John Wilson (conductor)
John Wilson is a British conductor, arranger and musicologist and specialises in music for the small and big screens, as well as Big Band jazz and light music...
helped develop the orchestra’s repertoire and style. Lamb worked with the orchestra from the 1980s, bringing with him well known soloists, and playing many of his own arrangements and compositions. Wilson works regularly to recreate the arrangements and playing style of the golden Hollywood era of the 1940s to 1960s. In January 2009 John Wilson was appointed principal guest conductor of the orchestra.
Popular/Contemporary
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra has always played an active role in bringing popular music into an orchestral setting. Through the 1970s, 80s and 1990s it performed for the Irish National Song Contest, and played for the Eurovision song contest in 1971, 1981, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997. As part of the 1994 Eurovision the orchestra performed 'Riverdance' as the interval act, premiering a work that was to go on to make enormous worldwide impact. Conductor Gareth Hudson worked extensively with the orchestra on TV shows, and musical theatre productions and continues to make his mark in this area. The orchestra has brought many international and Irish artists to the Irish public through its ‘Signature Series’. Principal conductor David Brophy has worked on many of these concerts showing his ability to cover a broad range of styles including elements of pop, new age, contemporary songwriters etc.The RTÉ Concert Orchestra combined with the Mooney
Mooney (radio programme)
Mooney is an Irish radio programme broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1. Presented by Derek Mooney, the programme airs Monday to Friday from 15:00 to 16:30....
radio programme and the RTÉ radio audience to create Mooney Tunes from the Grand Canal Theatre
Grand Canal Theatre
The Grand Canal Theatre is a 2,111 capacity world class theatre in Dublin, Ireland which opened on 18 March 2010. Designed by Daniel Libeskind of New York and RHWL Architects of London, it is located in the Grand Canal Dock area and the concept of the theatre was created by Mike Adamson of Live...
for RTÉ over Christmas 2011, an obvious pun on the similarity between the presenter's name and the word "Looney" as used in Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
, the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
series.
See also
- RTÉ National Symphony OrchestraRTÉ National Symphony OrchestraThe RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is the concert music orchestra of Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
- RTÉ Philharmonic ChoirRTÉ Philharmonic ChoirThe RTÉ Philharmonic Choir is an Irish choir, part of Irish broadcaster RTÉ. The current chorus master is Mark Duley. It is part of RTÉ Performing Groups.- RTÉ Philharmonic Choir :...
- RTÉ Cór na nÓgRTÉ Cór na nÓgRTÉ Cór na nÓg is an Irish children's choir. In May 2004 Máire Mannion took up the position of choral director. The choir is part of RTÉ Performing Groups.- History :...
- RTÉ Vanbrugh QuartetRTÉ Vanbrugh QuartetRTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, also known as the RTÉ String Quartet, is the resident string quartet to Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's national broadcasting service, and Artists in residence to University College Cork and founders of the internationally acclaimed West Cork Chamber Music Festival...