“The Government has agreed in principle that the National Symphony Orchestra should move from being part of [Irish broadcasting company] RTÉ to come under … the National Concert Hall, rather than be established as a separate State body,” writes Deirdre Falvey in Thursday’s (7/5) Irish Times (Dublin). “A working group involving the broadcaster and the NCH, which will include consultation with the employees of both the NSO and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, is envisaged…. An RTÉ review of the national broadcaster’s two orchestras, Ensuring a Sustainable Future for RTÉ’s Orchestras, … published on April 24th [recommended] that, rather than being closed, both the symphony and the concert orchestra should be brought up to full strength.… Between 2007 and 2016 the number of musicians in the symphony orchestra fell from 89 to 68, while the concert orchestra went from 45 to 40. The review finds it ‘hard to see how RTÉ can fund even the current level of provision.’ … Yesterday the Irish Times music critic Michael Dervan speculated that … the orchestra [move] would be unwise … because the NCH and the NSO compete directly for audiences when visiting orchestras play at the concert hall.”
Posted July 9, 2018
