NATIONAL CONCERT HALL 2024 — 2025 SEASON
STANFORD 100
NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
NATIONAL SYMPHONY CHORUS
Gerhard Markson conductor | Máire Flavin soprano
Sharon Carty mezzo-soprano | James Way tenor
John Molloy bass | David Young choral director
Stanford Requiem
NSO’s centenary commemorations of Dublin-born Stanford’s death concludes with one of his crowning glories: the monumental and moving Requiem.
FRIDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2024, 7.30PM
Tickets from €15 nch.ie
National Symphony Orchestra
Puccini 100
Carlo Rizzi conductor
Gwyn Hughes Jones tenor
Simon Shibambu bass-baritone
National Symphony Chorus
David Young choral director
Friday 25 October 2024, 7.30pm
National Concert Hall
Presented by Paul Herriott, RTÉ lyric fm Programme
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Overture in C major / 11’
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, Italian / 27’ Puccini Messa di Gloria / 46’
Broadcast live on RTÉ lyric Live on RTÉ lyric fm
PLEASE NOTE: The NCH does not permit photography or videography during the performance (without prior permission). We kindly ask you to refrain from using any recording equipment for the duration of tonight’s performance.
NCH Board Members
Maura McGrath Chair | James Cavanagh | Cliona Doris
Rebecca Gageby | Hilary Hough | Peter McKenna
Niamh Murray | Michelle O’Sullivan | Don Thornhill
Patron
Michael D. Higgins President of Ireland
Sharing the joy A note from David Young
Good evening, and a very warm welcome to this exciting evening, taking place as part of the National Symphony Orchestra’s season at the National Concert Hall, in which we celebrate the genius of Giacomo Puccini, alongside the sparkling music of siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.
For the National Symphony Chorus, it is always a special thrill to return to performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, and tonight, in our first concert of the season, is no exception. We have found it a huge treat to work on Puccini’s music for the first time in many years, and especially with such world-class exponents as Carlo Rizzi, Gwyn Hughes Jones and Simon Shibambu. Puccini’s music is well known for being full of emotion, and even in this early work, the Messa di Gloria – his only significant religious composition – that overflowing lyricism is already in full evidence. It therefore makes the perfect curtain-raiser for our 2024-2025 season, which is packed with choral masterpieces from the 18th to the 21st centuries.
Entering my sixth year of conducting the National Symphony Chorus, I feel so energised by the way we are working together. Each weekly rehearsal is a joy, with all of us delving further and further into the meaning of the music we are performing and the techniques which allow us to bring it off the page. This vibrant and youthful work by Puccini has brought us such life over recent weeks – I hope it does the same for you tonight.
David Young
Programme Notes
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-47)
Overture in C major
Fanny Mendelssohn spent the greater part of her life in the shadow of her younger brother, Felix, despite many of their better-informed contemporaries regarding her as the more promising musician and composer – quite a claim given his obvious talents. But in an age when women were confined by the mere chance of their gender, Fanny’s potential was relegated by convention, subsumed to the plentiful opportunities afforded her male sibling.
Born into a well-connected family – her father was an influential banker, her grandfather a leading figure in the so-called ‘Jewish Enlightenment’ (albeit stopping well short of advocating gender equality) – she showed prodigious musical ability as a child pianist and composer. She was four-years-old when Felix was born, any attention and privilege accorded her incrementally stripped away in his favour as they grew up. ‘Music will become [Felix’s] profession’, Fanny’s father wrote to her when she was 14, ‘while for you it can, and must only be, an ornament’.
Felix did, indeed, make music his profession to become lauded as one of the greatest composers of his age. But Fanny, too, had the potential to achieve similar heights. She composed more than 460 works, some of which were attributed to Felix, and while the two shared a similar attitude of style and substance, the question of who most influenced the other remains moot.
The Overture in C was composed around 1830 (when Fanny was in her midtwenties), most likely for one of her family’s weekly concerts at their Berlin home. With Felix already demonstrating prodigious gifts, it was almost instantly forgotten until being re-discovered in the early 1990s.
The only unaccompanied orchestral piece she wrote (there are several oratorios and a concert aria) it is minted with the then newly emerging Romantic style that would define the remainder of the century. A graceful, elegant, free-flowing and nimbly virtuosic display, it prompts the question of what might have been had she been allowed the largesse and opportunity afforded her brother.
It begins with a slow, tentative, sonata-like opening that makes rich, evocative use of sweetly integrated strings, woodwinds and horns. Although the work claims no programme – no imagined scene or story it is describing – it feels like an awakening of some sort. In the ensuing, through-played Allegro it is as if Spring has sprung: the fresh, flexing, melodically appealing music deporting itself with a fleet vibrancy that calls to mind Felix’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture in its gossamer scoring, lightly-handled interplay between poetry and drama, and in the controlled flourish of its finale.
In every aspect, attitude and accomplishment, it deports itself with the signature of a Mendelssohn. Were it attributed to Felix rather than Fanny, it would undoubtedly be better known and appreciated.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)
Symphony No. 4 in A major, ‘Italian’, Op. Posth. 90
I. Allegro Vivace
II. Andante con moto
III. Con moto moderato
IV. Presto; Finale – Saltarello
During Mendelssohn’s extended tour of Europe between 1829 and 1831 – a journey that prompted his Scottish Symphony (No. 3) and The Hebrides Overture – the destination that gave him the greatest pleasure was Italy.
Arriving in October, 1830, he spent 10 months in the country before returning to Berlin. Having sketched ideas for a symphony on his various travels to Rome (where he witnessed the enthronement of Pope Pius VIII) and Naples, Mendelssohn began composing what was to be his Fourth Symphony – the Italian – in the winter of 1832. Completed the following March, it was first performed in London in May, 1833 with Mendelssohn himself conducting. He twice revised it, in 1837 and a decade later shortly before his death in November 1847.
An aesthete by inclination – he was an accomplished amateur painter and published a translation of the Roman playwright Terence’s comedy Andria – Mendelssohn found himself hugely enamoured of Italy’s abundant art and architectural heritage as much as by its landscape. Even so, and despite its title,
the Fourth Symphony is no mere postcard of its sights or pastiche of its sounds. Only its fourth movement betrays any idiomatic borrowing in its prominent use of a lively Neapolitan dance.
It opens in a joyous, Allegro Vivace frame of mind: woodwinds and pizzicato (plucked) strings excitably casting glances around the natural and man-made wonders surrounding them as if unsure where to settle their gaze next. Charmed and charming, the movement carries itself with a rapidity of thought that suggests the insatiable appetite of an enthusiastic tourist devouring the sights. But it’s marked by a lightness of touch, too, with bright colours filtered through diaphanous textures to call to mind Mendelssohn’s own description of the Italian Symphony as ‘blue sky in A major’.
The second movement is an impressionistic response to elaborate processions witnessed in Rome during the papal coronation. Some have found echoes of a traditional Czech pilgrim song in it, others a setting by Mendelssohn’s teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter of a poem by Goethe, an admiring mentor of the composer in younger years. In its animated vitality and evocative details, it harks back to the pristine poise and poetry of his earlier Overture to A Midsummer’s Night Dream
Goethe’s poem Lilis Park may also have inspired the third movement, effectively a Minuet with Trio. A sense of antiquity pervades the blend of Haydn-like crispness and Mozartian elegance seeming to hymn the long history of Italy’s art and architecture. French horns and bassoons lend the Trio section an echo of ancient Rome’s military past, violins and flute offering another, more refined, perspective.
The bright, breezy Presto finale provides the only authentically Italian moment in the symphony. Two native dance forms – the Roman saltarello and Neapolitan tarantella – are spun into a rapturous amalgam of effervescent exuberance that suggests the enthusiastic response of a composer in thrall to a new country. ‘This is Italy!’, he wrote to his father, Abraham, shortly after arriving there. ‘And now has begun what I have always thought… to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it.’
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) Messa di Gloria
I. Kyrie
II. Gloria
III. Credo
IV. Sanctus – Benedictus
V. Agnus Dei
Puccini’s success in the opera house has all but obscured his early ambition to focus on liturgical music. Hardly surprising given he was the fourth generation of a family of respected church musicians in Lucca, Northern Italy.
The Messa a quattro voci – as he originally titled it – was composed by the 21-yearold Puccini as his graduation exercise from Lucca’s Istituto Musicale Giovanni Pacini in 1880. Le Villi, the first of the 12 operas with which he was to make his name, was still four years distant.
The title by which we know it today – Messa di Gloria – derives from its first publication in 1951 by a priest who had known Puccini as a child. It is not, in the truest sense, what its title suggests. It is, in fact, a full Mass, including sections the shorter form omits: the Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.
A patchwork of musical styles, it is the product of a young composer in search of his own, still-forming voice, anchoring himself in idioms variously inherited from the antique music of Palestrina and Bach, from popular Venetian and Neapolitan styles, and from more recent influences such as Verdi and Richard Strauss.
Threaded throughout are intimations of the inimitable Puccinian signature that would come to define and dominate Italian opera as it moved into the 20th century. Themes from the ‘Kyrie’ and Agnus Dei that would later reappear in his operas Edgar and Manon Lescaut directly point to the direction he would soon triumphantly take.
The tranquil opening of the ‘Kyrie’ anticipates the gentle interludes that lend his operas some of their most poignant moments. Its beginning, introduced by lyrical strings, is calm and reflective, the first entrance of solo and choral voices executed with diaphanous delicacy. Its sweet, major-key theme gives way to minor-key drama on ‘Christie eleison’ before fleeting turmoil recedes into the millpondstillness of the section’s beginning.
The exultant ‘Gloria’ is prophetically operatic in scale – it takes up almost half of the work’s entire playing time – and attitude. Here is the nascent Puccini learning to flex his compositional and emotional muscles with all the unabashed fervour of youth.
The folk-like melody of its opening ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ – introduced by sopranos and altos then transformed via a telling key-change for tenors and basses – is brought to an abrupt halt with ‘Et in terra, pax’ (And on earth, peace), the sopranos’ benediction readily taken up by full chorus.
The obligation of the Mass to confront the majesty of the deity and the mystery of death is vented in the volcanic brass fanfare announcing the fervent declaration of faith ‘Laudamus te’ (We praise thee). Contrast is all here in a tidal flow that is variously forceful before retreating into near silence, or, conversely, begins in quiet and rises to a rousing climax. The section resolves itself in the comfort and candour of faith with the gentle cadence of ‘Adoramus te’ (We adore thee).
What follows reveals Puccini’s awareness of the rich legacy of his native inheritance, and of Giuseppe Verdi, whose operatic mantle he acquired. The tenor solo ‘Gratias agimus’ (We give thanks) is underpinned by the lilting accent of the southern Italian siciliana dance, the ensuing ‘Qui tollis peccata mundi’ (Who takes away the sins of the world) boasts a mighty melody carried aloft by bass voices and elaborated on by higher registers that sounds distinctly Verdian.
Basses are also to the fore in ‘Cum sancto spiritu’ (With the Holy Spirit) which incorporates the opening ‘Gloria’ theme in the form of a double-fugue as it nears its thrillingly effulgent conclusion. But light, especially the brightest, always casts a shadow. Its chill is felt in the forbidding opening of ‘Credo in unum Deo’ (I believe in one God). That this was the first section that Puccini had composed as an 18-year-old makes it seem all the more impressive.
A pleading, plaintive tenor solo with unaccompanied chorus treats ‘Et incarnatus est’ (And was made man) with all the reverential solemnity the miracle it describes deserves.
The baritone solo’s ‘Crucifixus etiam pro nobis’ (Crucified also for us) is duly sober and sombre, fading into silence with ‘sepultus est’ (and was buried). Out of terrible despair comes joy as the choir bursts forth with the declaration ‘Et resurrexit’ (and was raised from the dead).
And here comes perhaps the most surprising – if not audacious – moment in the Mass; the disguised waltz-time accent of ‘et vitam venturi’ (and life to come) that shifts appropriately from minor to major key.
The ‘Sanctus’ moves from dignified choral stateliness to the solo baritone’s lightly waltz-accented ‘Benedictus’ and a brief ‘Hosanna’ with almost perfunctory brevity.
Puccini was to use the concluding ‘Agnus Dei’ again in his opera Manon Lescaut. Here, carried by a lilting solo tenor cosseted by pastoral choral voices, the solo baritone joining in a duet with the tenor on the repeat of ‘Agnus Dei qui tollis’ (Lamb of God, who takes away). The chorus makes its final entry on ‘Dona pacem’ (Give us peace), the orchestra echoing its refrain to bring the Mass to its gentle conclusion.
Notes by Michael Quinn © National Concert Hall
Puccini Messa di Gloria
Kyrie Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te.
Gratias agimus tibi
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, suscipe deprecationem nostram, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe.
Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.
Kyrie
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will.
We praise thee; we bless thee; we adore thee; we glorify thee.
Gratias agimus tibi
We give thee thanks for thy great glory.
Glory to God in the highest. Lord and God, heavenly King, God the almighty Father.
Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord and God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us, receive our prayer graciously, have mercy on us.
For thou alone art the Holy One, thou alone art the Lord, thou alone art the Highest, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Credo
Credo in unum Deum Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium, et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum.
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis.
Et incarnatus est
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine:
Et homo factus est.
Crucifixus etiam
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis: passus et sepultus est, crucifixus etiam pro nobis: sub Pontio Pilato.
Et resurrexit
Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas.
Et ascendit in coelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum,
Credo Credo in unum Deum I believe in the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. Begotten of his Father before all ages. God of God, light of light, true God of true God.
Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father: by whom all things were made. Who for the sake of us men, and for the sake of our salvation came down from heaven.
Et incarnatus est
Who was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary: and he was made man.
Crucifixus etiam
He was crucified for us: died and was buried, he was crucified for us: under Pontius Pilate.
Et resurrexit
And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven. He sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again in glory, to judge both the quick and the dead: whose kingdom shall have no end. And [I believe] in the Holy Ghost, who is Lord,
NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
TARA ERRAUGHT
mezzo-soprano
FRIDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2024, 7.30 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Laurence Cummings conductor & harpsichord
Programme: Haydn, Martínez, Mozart
MONDAY 10-FRIDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2025
Celebrating the Voice
Professional Development Programme for Singers & Recital and Orchestra performances
THURSDAY 1 MAY 2025, 7.30 pm
National Symphony Orchestra
Clelia Cafiero conductor
Programme: Mozart, Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini, Rossini
Book now on nch.ie
Tickets from €15
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per Prophetas.
Et unam sanctam catholicam
Et unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam venturi saeculi.
Amen.
Sanctus – Benedictus
Sanctus Dominus Deus
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli in terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis. Donna nobis pacem.
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son.
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the Prophets.
Et unam sanctam catholicam
And [I believe] in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. and I look for the resurrection of the dead. and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Sanctus – Benedictus
Sanctus Dominus Deus Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Agnus Dei
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Grant us thy peace.
NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
2024 — 2025 SEASON
INTERNATIONAL ORCHESTRAS AND RECITALS
SATURDAY 2
NOVEMBER 2024
7.30PM
THE TALLIS SCHOLARS
Peter Phillips director
One of the world’s leading choral ensembles and ‘rock stars of Renaissance vocal music’ (New York Times) The Tallis Scholars bring their unique sounds to sublime, centuries-spanning music with works by Hildegard von Bingen and Arvo Pärt.
Pre-concert talk 6.15pm-7pm
Tickets from €15
Discounts and Packages Available nch.ie
Carlo Rizzi conductor
Carlo Rizzi holds a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s foremost operatic conductors, in demand as a guest artist at the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. Equally at home in the opera house and the concert hall, his vast repertoire spans everything from the foundation works of the operatic and symphonic canon to rarities. Combining a deep expertise in the vocal art with theatrical flair and the practical collaborative skills honed over decades of experience in the world’s finest theatres, he is acclaimed by singers and audiences alike as a master of the operatic craft. Born in Milan, Rizzi studied at the city’s conservatoire, and following his graduation was employed as a répétiteur at the legendary Teatro alla Scala.
He launched his conducting career in 1982 with a production of Donizetti’s L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, and has now performed over 100 operas, with a broad repertoire that is rich in Italian works in addition to the major titles. In September 2019 he was appointed Music Director of Opera Rara, the UK-based company devoted to resurrecting and returning to the repertoire undiscovered and undervalued works from opera’s celebrated and neglected composers.
Since 2015, Rizzi has been Conductor Laureate of the Welsh National Opera, following his tenure as Music Director (1992-2001 and 2004-08). He also has held longstanding relationships with the Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Rizzi is also critically acclaimed as a symphonic conductor with distinguished orchestras.
In 2024 Rizzi was awarded the honour of Grande Ufficiale (Grand Officer) of the Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Order of the Star of Italy) for his commitment and contribution to promoting Italian music and culture internationally.
Gwyn Hughes Jones tenor
Welsh tenor Gwyn Hughes Jones has sung leading roles at many of the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and Opéra national de Paris.
In the 2024-2025 season he sings Tristan (Tristan und Isolde) for Grand Théâtre de Genève and ABAO Bilbao Opera); Calaf (Turandot) and Manrico (Il trovatore) for Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and joins the National Symphony Orchestra for tonight’s performance of Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.
Other operatic highlights include the title role Peter Grimes (English National Opera), title role Tristan (Tristan und Isolde, Grange Park Opera), Manrico (Il trovatore, Washington National Opera), Cavaradossi (Tosca, Royal Opera House), Otello (Grand Theatre Poznan´, Grange Park Opera); Calaf (Turandot, Opéra national de Paris, English National Opera); Cavaradossi (Tosca, English National Opera, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Welsh National Opera); Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly, Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera); Rodolfo (La bohème, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago, English National Opera); Ismaele (Nabucco, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opéra national de Paris); Manrico (Il trovatore, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Welsh National Opera); Fenton (Falstaff, Metropolitan Opera); Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West, Santa Fe Opera), and Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), Alvaro (La forza del destino), Canio (Pagliacci), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Duca (Rigoletto), Don Jose (Carmen), and the title role of Gounod’s Faust, all for Welsh National Opera.
Jones has appeared with orchestras including the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Trondheim Symfoniorkester, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. In 2010 and 2011 he was invited to participate in opera galas in Sweden to mark the 100th anniversary of Jussi Björling’s birth and death. His extensive concert repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. He also recorded the first-ever televised recital from the Wigmore Hall.
Simon Shibambu bass-baritone
Simon Shibambu’s recent opera engagements include his debut with the Grand Théâtre de Genève in the world premiere of Hèctor Parra’s Justice, Rodolfo (La sonnambula) for the Buxton Festival, and a return to the Royal Opera House for Salome. Recent concert appearances include Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Marin Alsop), A Child of Our Time with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Verdi Requiem with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Il tabarro at the BBC Proms (Sir Mark Elder).
Previously he sang Sciarrone (Tosca) with the Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier, Spreche and Priest (Die Zauberflöte) with the Opéra de Rouen, and both Angelotti (Tosca) and Poet in a new production of Philip Glass’s Orphée with the English National Opera. He sang Porgy (Porgy and Bess) in full production with the Theatre an der Wien and in concert with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debuts with the Dutch National Opera as Calazán in Micha Hamel’s Caruso in Cuba, Aixen-Provence Festival as Angelotti and at the BBC Proms performing Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
During the two seasons as a Jette Parker Young Artist at the ROH, Shibambu has appeared in roles including Dr Grenvil (La traviata), Pietro (Simon Boccanegra), Angelotti, Montano (Otello), Ceprano, Doctor (Macbeth), Flemish Deputy (Don Carlo), Le Sire de Bethune (Les Vêpres siciliennes), Sentry (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Quinault (Adriana Lecouvreur), Ghost of Nino (Semiramide), Second Armed Man (Die Zauberflöte) and Fourth Brabantian Noble (Lohengrin). In 2016, Shibambu was chosen to join the prestigious Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival, where he sang Naval Captain (Manon Lescaut) alongside Anna Netrebko, and Palémon (Thaïs), when he shared the stage with Plácido Domingo.
From Pretoria, Shibambu studied voice at Tshwane University of Technology and the Royal College of Music. He was awarded the First and Audience Prizes at the Clonter Opera Competition and was a finalist of the 2018 Operalia Competition.
Meet The Orchestra
Get to know the people behind the instruments of the National Symphony Orchestra
Polly Ballard Cello, Associate Principal
When did you join the National Symphony Orchestra? 2008.
Where did you study?
I have been very fortunate in my musical education and the support I had from family and teachers. I was a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music from the age of 12 and I went on to study with Amaryllis Fleming at the Royal College of Music. Although I won an award to study further, circumstances meant I could not take up this opportunity. Twenty years later I took up lessons again and perhaps should take them up again now, another 20 years later!
Why did you choose to play your instrument?
I have three older sisters who played instruments and I think my parents chose the cello to keep me quiet!
Who is your favourite composer and what is your favourite work?
I do not really have a favourite composer, rather works that have a special meaning or had a particular importance in my life, including the Elgar Cello Concerto, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not playing with the orchestra? The garden calls… or rather shouts!
What is your greatest achievement – either musical or general?
I could say being offered a job to become the fifth female to play in the London Symphony Orchestra at the age of 23, or being offered the job at the NSO here 25 years later but actually, it is bringing up four children.
If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be, and why?
I have met many really interesting and famous people in my life but to be honest I find family and friends are the most fun to have dinner with. I would like to bring my parents back for a huge family Sunday lunch so they could see what their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are doing. That would be special.
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra has been at the centre of Ireland’s cultural life for over 75 years. Formerly the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, it was founded in 1948 as the Raidió Éireann Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, the Orchestra transferred from RTÉ to the remit of the National Concert Hall.
Resident orchestra of the National Concert Hall since its opening in 1981, it is a leading force in Irish musical life through year-long programmes of live music –ranging from symphonic, choral and operatic to music from stage and screen, popular and traditional music, and new commissions – alongside recordings, broadcasts on RTÉ and internationally through the European Broadcasting Union. Schools concerts, family events, initiatives for emerging artists and composers, collaborations with partner promoters and organisations extend the orchestra’s reach.
As a central part of the National Concert Hall’s 2024-2025 Season, the NSO presents more than 55 performances shared between Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Cork. They include collaborations with international and Irish artists, ensembles and conductors – including a number of events with the National Concert Hall’s Artists-in-Residence: the renowned American musician and composer Bryce Dessner, the internationally acclaimed Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, and the dynamic musician and presenter Jessie Grimes. The programme is rich and varied, presenting repertoire from across the centuries to the present day including world and Irish premieres, choral masterpieces, birthday and anniversary celebrations, family concerts and screenings, schools concerts, and professional initiatives for emerging singers and composers. A focus on nature and the environment is a central part of the season’s programming.
Highlights with the Artists-in-Residence are many. They include three Irish premieres by Bryce Dessner: Mari, his Violin Concerto performed by its dedicatee, Pekka Kuusisto, and his Concerto for Two Pianos performed by Katia and Marielle Labèque, for whom it was written. Tara Erraught performs virtuosic works by Mozart, Haydn and Marianne von Martínez, with historical performance specialist Laurence Cummings conducting, and arias by Mozart, Puccini, Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, with Clelia Cafiero conducting. Tara is also the driving force behind Celebrating the Voice, a week-long professional development programme for young singers which culminates in an opera gala with the NSO conducted by Anu
Tali. Jessie Grimes leads immersive, family-friendly concerts including Our Precious Planet and explorations of iconic works: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique as part of the ASD-friendly Symphony Shorts, as well as Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, featuring new and specially commissioned shadow puppetry, and Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Other exciting highlights include Dame Sarah Connolly joining conductor Mihhail Gerts for Alma Mahler’s Six Songs; an 80th birthday celebration for conductor Leonard Slatkin which includes the world premiere of his son Daniel’ s cosmic journey, Voyager 130; Hugh Tinney performing Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto; Speranza Scappucci conducting a Ravel Birthday Celebration; John Storgårds conducting Rachmaninov and Shostakovich; Anja Bihlmaier conducting Mahler’s Ninth Symphony; and Ryan McAdams conducting the First Violin Concerto by Philip Glass with NSO Leader Elaine Clark as soloist; and John Luther Adams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean. Jaime Martín returns to conduct Chopin’s Second Concerto with Yeol Eum Son as the soloist, and former Principal Conductor Gerhard Markson returns for Stanford’s Requiem featuring the National Symphony Chorus and soloists including Máire Flavin and Sharon Carty.
World premieres by Deirdre McKay and Ailís Ní Ríain and, as part of Composer Lab, by Amelia Clarkson, Finola Merivale, Barry O’Halpin, and Yue Song all feature. Irish premieres include a new orchestral setting of Philip Glass’s film score Naqoyqatsi with the Philip Glass Ensemble; Stephen McNeff’s The Celestial Stranger with Gavan Ring as soloist; James MacMillan’s St. John Passion with the National Symphony Chorus and Chamber Choir Ireland; and Ukrainian Victoria Vita Polevá’s Third Symphony.
Additional family events include popular screenings of classic children’s stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – Stick Man and The Snail and the Whale – and Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. Music in the Classroom returns with Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate Music Guide events, and Musical Adventures for Primary School children.
National Symphony Orchestra
1st Violin
Elaine Clark (Leader)
Danny McCann Williams
Sebastian Liebig †
Orla Ní Bhraoin °
Catherine McCarthy
Ting Zhong Deng
David Clark
Anne Harte
Bróna Fitzgerald
Sylvia Roberts
Claudie Driesen
Karl Sweeney
Maria Ryan
Cliodhna Ryan
2nd Violin
Paula Clifton-Everest
Elizabeth McLaren ‡
Steven Crichlow
Rosalind Brown
Paul Fanning
Dara O’Connell
Melanie Cull
Evelyn McGrory
Elena Quinn
Magda Kowalska
Matthew Wylie
Katherine Sung
Viola
Abigail Fenna
Francis Harte °
Ruth Bebb
Neil Martin
Cliona O’Riordan
Margarete Clark
Nathan Sherman
Anthony Mulholland
Alison Comerford
Carla Vedres
Cello
Martin Johnson •
Polly Ballard ‡
Violetta-Valerie Muth °
Úna Ní Chanainn
Filip Szkopek
Maria Kolby-Sonstad
Cormac Ó Briain
Matthew Lowe
Double Bass
Milad Daniari
Mark Jenkins ‡
Waldemar Kozak
Helen Morgan
Jenni Meade
Ria Nolan
Nigel Smith
Flute
Ríona Ó Duinnín ‡
Mairéad English
Piccolo
Sinéad Farrell †
Oboe
Sylvain Gnemmi ‡
Jenny Magee
Clarinet
Soo-Young Lee
Fintan Sutton †
Bassoon
Greg Crowley •
Hilary Sheil †
Horn
George Strivens
Peter Ryan
Thomas Bettley
David Atcheler ◊
Joe Ryan
Trumpet
Christopher Deacon
Sam Lewis
Trombone
Jason Sinclair • Gavin Roche ‡
Bass Trombone
Josiah Walters †
Tuba
Francis Magee •
Timpani
Niels Verbeek
• Section Leader
† Principal
‡ Associate Principal
° String Sub Principal
◊ Sub Principal 1
National Symphony Chorus
Chorus Director: David Young
The National Symphony Chorus, formerly the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, has been at the heart of Irish choral life since its foundation by Colin Mawby in 1985 and prepares at least five projects each concert season. The choir was further developed by conductors Mark Duley (1996-2011) and Mark Hindley (2012-2018), with the dynamic British conductor David Young appointed in 2019.
Now rehearsing weekly in the National Concert Hall, it is Ireland’s largest choir with more than 150 dedicated voluntary members, some travelling from as far as Cork, Kildare, Louth, Limerick, Meath, Roscommon, Tipperary, Wicklow and Wexford to take part.
The National Symphony Chorus would like to dedicate this evening’s performance to the memory of Chorus member Sinéad Kearney. May she rest in peace.
Membership is by audition. For information, please contact: lesley.bishop@nch.ie
SOPRANOS
Fiona Arnold
Charlotte Arnold
Ann Barror
Miriam Broderick
Vera Cronin
Sadhbh Dennedy
Liz Dodd
Muireann Doherty
Olwen Grindley
Avril Hannin
Ethna Higgins
Jenny Hughes
Catherine Hughes
Edna Jordan
Joanna Kocon
Susan Macken
Brónagh Maher
Margaret McCabe
Eileen McGee
Patricia McVeigh
Aimee Millar
Michelle Nolan
June Nutley
Julie O’Brien
Siobhán O’Carroll
Morag O’Connor
Lucy O’Reilly
Clodagh O’ReillyBoyles
Sara Parson-Lobner
Nuala Perry
Sorina Popa
Róisín Power
Charlotte Rafter
Elaine Reddy
Aoife Rickard
Aoife Smith
Magda Szekely
Caitriona Travers
Máire Travers
ALTOS
Sandra Austin
Aine Balfe
Noreen Barrett
Gillian Barry
Nikki Barry
Susan Barry
Elaine Boyd
Helen Bradley
Mary Bruton
Lorraine Callaghan
Mary Clarke
Bernadette
Comerford
Philippa Cottle
Mary de Courcy
Evelyn Deasy
Aoife Doyle
Maura Eaton
Mary Farrell
Christine Ferguson
Liz Foster
Linda Glen
Ellis Gordijn
Maria Harford
Una Hayes
Ann Marie Higgins
Eleanor Hughes
Margaret Jungels
Elizabeth Keighary
Caroline Lenehan
Catherine Martin
Léan McMahon
Maireád McNeela
Kseniia Medvedieva
Maile Miller
Natalie O’Brien
Jeanne-Marie Phillips
Patricia Quigley
Aisling Sheridan
Caroline Stone-Aubin
Ann Swift
Isobel Walsh
Anne White
Leslie Wrenn
TENORS
Nigel Brislane
Emer Byrne
Harry Campbell
Anthony Carrick
Conal Cosgrove
Niamh Goucher
Christopher Hapka
Joseph Jones
Pat Kitterick
Martine MaguireWeltecke
Peter Martin
Gerard Moynihan
Patrick O’Beirne
Brian O’Brien
Stephanie Offergeld
Lionel Pinto
Alicja Przybys
Joy Rice
Richard Stables
Jim Ward
David Wright
Marta Zduniak
BASSES
William Abrahamson
Padraig Barry
David Carmody
Conor Donelan
Gerard Flanagan
Kevin Gormley
Conor Gouldsbury
John Hayes
Kevin Hughes
Frank Hussey
Edward Kehoe
Bernard Keogh
Michael Lee
Barra Lysaght
Christopher Maher
Michael McCabe
Gareth McCarthy
Ciarán McGahon
Daniel McGuinness
James McNeill
Gary Morrissey
Mike O’Carroll
Simon O’Leary
John O’Neill
Kevin O’Connell
Joseph O’Dea
Sean Phelan
Douglas Poynton
Tony Sanfey
Niall Sheehy
Nigel Somerfield
Jonathan Williams
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NATIONAL CONCERT HALL 2024 — 2025 SEASON
INTERNATIONAL ORCHESTRAS AND RECITALS
SATURDAY 30
NOVEMBER 2024
7.30PM
PARAORCHESTRA
Charles Hazlewood conductor Victoria Oruwari soprano
The pioneering ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians, with guest soprano Victoria Oruwari, led by Charles Hazlewood perform Górecki’s cathartic and hauntingly beautiful work Symphony of Sorrowful Songs , preceded by Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, a melancholic, iridescent and urgent piece realised for full string orchestra by Mahler.
Pre-concert talk 6.15pm-7pm
Tickets from €15
Discounts and Packages Available nch.ie