NSOI Summer Lunchtime

Izabelė Jankauskaitė, conductor
​​​​​​​National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Patrick Rafter, violin
Presented by Liz Nolan, RTÉ lyric fm

Mendelssohn The Hebrides Overture
Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps
Massenet Méditation from Thaïs
Kroll arr. Ralph Wilkenson Banjo and Fiddle
Saint-Saëns Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah

Likened to Maxim Vengerov for his ‘musical poise and technical ease’ (Irish Times), violinist Patrick Rafter joins exciting young conductor Izabelė Jankauskaitė for a lunchtime of passion, poetry and playfulness.

With swirling strings, piping woodwinds and imposing brass, Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture vividly conjures the romantic grandeur of Fingal’s Cave and the wild seas beating against it.

Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso dazzles with violin fireworks, its sultry Spanish dance spiralling into virtuosic joy. Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps shimmers ethereally, evoking dawn’s tender awakening in luminous woodwinds and harp. A poignant prayer of spiritual longing, the Méditation from Massenet’s Thaïs soars with violinist eloquence.

Kroll’s feisty, vibrant Banjo and Fiddle sparkles with rustic charm, fiddler’s flair meeting cheeky banjo twang in the liveliest of dialogues. The Bacchanale from Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah unleashes a riotous orgy of sultry melodies, exotic rhythms and brazen brass for a perfect showpiece finale.

Presented by NCH