RTÉ Concert Orchestra - Summer Lunchtime by Stravinsky, Saint-Saëns, Lyadov, A., Glazunov, A., Chabrier, Od (2023/2023), Dirigent Robert Houlihan, National Concert Hall (NCH), Dublin, Ireland

Robert Houlihan conducts the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in a lunchtime concert packed with humour and exoticism. Composed for a ballet production incorporating 50 elephants and 50 ballerinas, Stravinsky’s riotous Circus Polka certainly manages to conjure up images of baby elephants showing off their very best jeté! Dublin International Piano Competition prize-winner Rowel Friers joins the orchestra to perform two captivating musical gems by Saint-Saëns, whilst Liadov invites us to be still by the shores of a serenely enchanting lake. Rooted in Greek mythology, ‘Summer’ from Glazunov’s ballet The Seasons takes us to a landscape of cornflowers and dancing nymphs reveling in the warmth of the sun, before Chabrier’s orchestral high jinks bring the concert to a suitably upbeat finish in his popular orchestral showpiece, Joyeuse marche.