Media Release 6th January 2016
New Year at the National Concert Hall sees some of the world’s greatest musicians perform as part of the International Concert Series 2016
- The ‘world’s most glamorous opera star’ soprano Angela Gheorghiu performs popular operatic arias accompanied by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra
- First visit to Ireland by Bach Collegium Japan with director Masaaki Suzuki to perform Bach’s Mass in B minor
- Debut performance by ‘Prince of Piano’ YUNDI in all-Chopin programme
- One of the world’s finest musicians, violinist Maxim Vengerov performs recital after sell-out concert in 2015
- First visit to Ireland of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra under French conductor Hervé Niquet with Ireland’s much-loved pianist Barry Douglas
- American ‘Genius’ pianist Jeremy Denk to perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations
- Chamber Choir Ireland and Irish Baroque Orchestra perform Handel’s epic choral masterpiece Samson
- Famed German baritone Christian Gerhaher joins the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Lorenzo Coppola (clarinet) and Gottfried von der Goltz (director) in unique all-Mozart Programme
The 15/16 series resumes on Saturday 23rd of January with two of Ireland’s finest ensembles (Chamber Choir Ireland and the Irish Baroque Orchestra) coming together to perform Handel’s dramatic oratorio Samson, first performed in 1743, the year after the composer’s famous visit to Dublin.
Completing the Choral Series is the outstanding Bach Collegium Japan under its celebrated director Masaaki Suzuki and guests soloists performing one of the masterpieces of choral music, Bach’s Mass in B minor, on Tuesday 12th April. Described as ‘the greatest musical work of art of all times and nations’, Bach's thrilling Mass is the crowning work of his career.
The Baroque theme continues when American pianist Jeremy Denk performs his first National Concert Hall solo recital on Thursday 4th February, in a programme that includes Bach’s much loved Goldberg Variations. Winner of a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship in 2013, Denk’s playing of this extraordinary work was aptly described by The Washington Post as “a revealing journey into the soul”.
Completing the Piano Masters Series is super-star Chinese pianist Yundi (or ‘Prince of the Piano’ as he has become known). He has been garnering world-wide acclaim since winning the Warsaw Chopin Competition at the age of 18 in 2000. For his National Concert Hall debut on Thursday 21st of April he will perform an all-Chopin programme.
Also making his National Concert Hall debut is the revered German baritone Christian Gerhaher. Equally renowned in opera and as one of the finest Lieder singers in the world today, Gerhaher brings a fascinating all-Mozart programme with the Gramophone Award-winning Freiburg Baroque Orchestra together with the clarinettist Lorenzo Coppola and director Gottfried von der Goltz.
Making a very special return to the National Concert Hall stage are two outstanding musicians, both revered and lauded world-wide for their sheer talent and star presence. Virtuoso violinist Maxim Vengerov, one of the greatest string players in the world, makes a return following his 2015 sell-out concert at the National Concert Hall, to perform in recital with Roustem Saitkoulov, piano. Their programme includes works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Ravel, Ysaÿe, Henrich Wilhelm Ernst and Paganini.
Still reigning supreme is soprano Angela Gheorghiu who we are delighted to welcome back to the National Concert Hall on Saturday 12th March. One of the great opera stars of recent decades, she will be accompanied by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in a programme of popular operatic arias. She is hailed as one of the most gifted opera singers of our time and her magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar.
To round off the season, in a year that sees the anniversary of a significant moment in Ireland’s journey to independence, we celebrate our long-standing membership of the European Union with the first visit to Ireland of the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra under Hervé Niquet, with pianist Barry Douglas as soloist, in a programme that includes the great Symphony in D minor by Belgian-born César Franck.
The National Concert Hall’s International Concert Series 2015/2016 is sponsored by Dublin Port and is supported by The Irish Times as print media partner.
Tickets for the above concerts from €22.50. For more details see here
ENDS
For further information please contact: Sinead Doyle, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 417 0057/ 087 1775334.
