George Enescu - a prodigious musician since his early childhood is renowned for his violin virtuoso performances as well as his well-known Romanian Rhapsodies.
Enescu was born in Liveni, northern Romania. He entered the Vienna Conservatoire at seven, to study the violin, graduated when he was 13. It is there where he first met Brahms, whose influence is evident in Enescu's early works.
In 1923 he made his debut as conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York. He appeared as a conductor with many American orchestras, and in 1936 it is believed that he was one of the candidates considered to replace Toscanini as permanent conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
In 1935, he conducted the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris and Yehudi Menuhin (who had been his pupil for several years starting in 1927) in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major. He also conducted the New York Philharmonic between 1937 and 1938.
He lived in Paris and in Romania, but after World War II and the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris.
His generosity and conviviality were legendary. Between the two World Wars, George Enescu seemed to be at the height of his powers, conducting the New York Philharmonic and numbering among his pupils Yehudi Menuhin. But his long exile from Romania following the communist take-over took its toll on him, practically and psychologically, and he died in poverty in Paris in May 1955.
Remus Azoitei and Eduard Stan’s Internationally acclaimed recordings of George Enescu's complete works for violin/piano on 2CDs (2007/8) have inspired an international tour of cultural capitals, bringing the work of this brilliant Romanian composer and musician to a live, world-wide audience.
Catch them on their only Dublin show tonight in the intimate setting of The John Field Room for what promises to be a very special concert. Show 8pm. Tickets: €18. Click HERE for more information.
Just two days to go until beloved Opera Star Frederica Von Stade performs the Irish leg of her Farewell Recital Tour at The National Concert Hall with an evening of beautiful French Melodies, German Lieder and more. Frederica von Stade has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. The mezzo-soprano is well known to audiences around the world through her numerous featured appearances on television including several PBS specials and "Live from Lincoln Center" telecasts. She has made over sixty recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums and is a six-time Grammy nominee. Dont miss this opportunity to see one of the most beloved musical figures of our time.
Frederica von Stade- Thursday 12th November 2009, 8pm. Tickets from €30. Limited Tickets available. Click HERE for more information.
Tuxedos, martinis and billionaire villains are all core elements of any James Bond Film, but nothing communicates the essence of the film’s content, plot twists and the suave agent himself, quite like the best Bond Themes.
For decades, top contemporary singers and songwriters have been commissioned to put their stamp on the James Bond Franchise, from songs by John Barry, Tim Rice and Paul McCartney to the powerhouse performances of Carly Simon, Shirley Bassey and even A-Ha! Making a welcome return to The National Concert Hall on Sunday, 8th November, Ellen McElroy and Eoin Cannon will perform the most infectious Bond themes recorded. Featuring such hits as "Nobody Does It Better", Man with The Golden Gun", "Thunderball", "Diamonds Are Forever", "Goldfinger", "Live and Let Die and of course the powerful "Bond Theme". Starring Ellen Mc Elroy, Eoin Cannon with the 007 Big Band and presented by Kevin Hough
Tickets from €25/8pm Show. Click HERE for booking information.
The National Concert Hall opens its new season with a visit by one of Europe’s oldest orchestras – the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Tracing its ancestry back to 1743, the ensemble’s worldwide reputation is certainly justified.
Under its Italian music director Riccardo Chailly, the programme not only honours the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth but also his tenure as the orchestra’s principal conductor in the 1830s.
In his ‘Hebrides’ Overture - a stunning seascape reflecting his visit to the Scottish Isles in 1829 - the Gewandhaus strings are at their most seductive expressively floating Mendelssohn’s melodic inventiveness.
Maestro Chailly maybe allows the woodwind over-pointed emphasis but then underlying eddies and turbulent swells in the music create unsettling fascination.
Stricter musical form arrives with Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto. Palestinian artist Saleem Abboud Ashkar reveals the delicacy of the composer’s elegant phrasing and makes the central ‘song without words’ Andante particularly lyrical.
The somewhat empty flourishes of the outer movements find the soloist no less attuned to their bravura-fingered fireworks.
The second half of the evening is awash with exotic Russian character. Mussorgsky’s ‘Night on a bare mountain’ has the biting precision of Rimsky-Korsakov’s vivid arrangement while his piano ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ spring to life in Ravel’s masterly orchestration.
The Gewandhaus players capture every fleeting nuance and every lingering dramatic gesture. Each of the sketches tells its own story be it a lumbering Polish oxcart, the twittering women of Limoges or the cavernous depths of Roman Catacombs.
But, under Chailly’s direction, this is a performance of enormous stature and massive proportion culminating in Kiev’s ‘Great Gate’. Kremlin bells toll majestically and the NCH resounds with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra’s magisterial refulgence.
Having collected three Mercury Music Prize nominations and two MBE's, the Waterson Family are one of Britain's most successful and influential folk bands. Bringing the 2009 ESB Beo Celtic Music Festival to a close on Sunday 29 August, these ambassadors of British Folk music will take over the Main Auditorium in what will be a memorable evening of folk music- past, present and future.
Eliza Carthy is winner of 2 Mercury Prize nominations over a 15 year career during which she has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists from Paul Weller to The Wainwrights, Nick Cave and Joan Baez. Martin Carthy’s (MBE) settings of traditional songs with guitar have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Billy Bragg and many more. Norma has also been awarded the MBE and was the first folk artist to be nominated for a Mercury Music Prize. The extended Waterson Family concert is a memorable evening with folk music’s most emotive singers and last celebrated a unique concert performance in the Royal Albert Hall in 2007.
Norma Waterson, Martin Carthy and Eliza Carthy were also part of Hal Wilmer’s Rogue’s Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys which was on tour last year and joined artists such as Tim Robbins, Suzanne Vega, Beth Orton, Shane McGowan, Neil Hannon, Pete Doherty, Martha Wainwright, Julie Fowlis, Gavin Friday, Teddy Thompson and many more featuring songs from the two disc compilation Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp.
Join us for their National Concert Hall debut as part of ESB Beo Celtic Music Festival. Tickets from €20. Main Auditorium, 8pm.
The magnificent Neil Cowley Trio play The John Field Room, on 14th July, 8pm and exclusive to ticket holders who apply before 10th July, a digital download of their new ‘Revolution’ EP is available absolutely free of charge! This digital only EP features their version of the Beatles track 'Revolution no.9' recorded for Mojo magazines recent 'White Album Recovered'. Also included on the EP are 3 original and previously unreleased tracks. On purchasing a ticket from the National Concert Hall box office, you will be given a ticket order number. This can then be used to collect your free ep by emailing this ticket number to office@note.ie This is an exclusive offer for their only Dublin date. See you there! Tickets: €20 Euro
