Media Release 2 September 2015

Holst’s The Planets to feature in Irish debut concert by Basel Symphony Orchestra at the National Concert Hall

The renowned Swiss Orchestra –The Basel Symphony Orchestra - make their Irish debut at the National Concert Hall on Tuesday 29 September 2015, 8pm as part of the National Concert Hall’s International Concert Season 15/16, sponsored by Dublin Port.

Under its distinguished American Music Director Dennis Russell Davies, the performance will open with an intriguing work-(originally a ballet created by Jean Cocteau) entitled Les mariés de la tour Eiffel (or Marriage at the Eiffel Tower)- by five of the group of French composers known as Les Six.

The orchestra will no doubt wow Irish audiences with a performance of the seven movement suite by Gustav Holst - The Planets a favourite with concert-goers all over the world.

It is also the subject matter for the pre-concert talk at 6.30pm by Dr. Cliona Doris (acting head of DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama) entitled ‘Music of the Spheres: The Science in Music’ in which the worlds of music and science collide, interact and intersect. This talk will also consider the influence of science and mathematics on music and in turn the impact of music on scientific thinking.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major will also be performed by German Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott who makes her National Concert Hall debut with this Orchestra. Established as one of the most exciting musical talents of today, Alice Sara Ott's most recent concert with the London Symphony Orchestra was described by The Guardian as ‘the kind of gawp-inducing bravura performance of which legends are made’. Her debut concerto album in 2010 was named Editor’s Choice in both International Piano and Classic FM magazines and her latest CD The Chopin Project (released March 2015) reached No.1 in the Official UK Classical Chart.

Internationally renowned musician Dennis Russell Davies has been chief conductor with the Basel Symphony Orchestra since 2009, a post he will hold until the end of its 2015/2016 season. While performing regularly in their own concert hall, Theater Basel in North-West Switzerland, the Basel Symphony Orchestra has also built up an international presence over the last few years following tours in China and England as well as performances in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Their repertoire is broad-based, stretching from the Vienna Classics, via the romantic music, to contemporary compositions and they have had world premières of many important works including Béla Bartók and Arthur Honegger.

The National Concert Hall’s International Concert Series 2015/2016 continues in 2015 with performances by English choral ensemble The Sixteen singing Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (10 Oct); acclaimed Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (29 Oct), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard, conductor and pianist Christian Ihle Hadland (5 Nov); Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider and pianist Robert Kulek (25 Nov) and in a all-Sibelius programme the world renowned Helsinki Philharmonic with conductor John Storgards and the winner of the Sibelius Violin Competition 2015 (12 Dec).

The 15/16 International Concert Series is sponsored by Dublin Port and supported by The Irish Times, as print media partner.
For a full list of concerts in the season https://www.nch.ie/Online/International-Concert-Series-1516
Basel Symphony Orchestra (Tuesday 29th September 2015, 8pm)
Les Six         Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
Ravel            Piano Concerto in G major
Holst             The Planets

Prices: €65, €57.50, €44.50, €27.50 Tel: 01 417 00 00 www.nch.ie
Pre-Concert Talk: 6.30-7.30pm Music of the Spheres: The Science in Music by Cliona Doris – Acting Head of Conservatory, DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama

ENDS

For further information please contact: Sinead Doyle, Marketing & PR Manager, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 417 0057/ 087 1775334