Winter Lunchtime Concerts 2025

RTÉ lyric fm is delighted to announce the Winter Lunchtime Concerts 2025

RTÉ lyric fm is delighted to announce the Winter Lunchtime Concerts – a new series of 3 concerts on The Full Score with Liz Nolan – live from Studio 1, RTÉ Radio Centre, Donnybrook with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

As a special new year’s treat, lyric fm are inviting their listeners to join us as part of the live audience in Studio 1. If you wish to apply, simply email thefullscore@rte.ie and tell lyric fm which date you’d like to attend and the number of tickets you require (max 2).* Details of the concerts are as follows:

Thursday 16th January at 13:30
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Gavin Maloney, conductor
Peter Ryan, violin
St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Girls’ Choir

Conductor Gavin Maloney will helm our first concert on Thursday, Jan 16th at 13:30 and he says of the programme, “I wanted dynamism and beauty to be at the heart of the programme, as we face January anew. Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ symphony is immensely powerful and succinct. Wagner’s opera, Tannhäuser, is ostensibly about a legendary singing festival. So, it’s fitting that we showcase some of Ireland’s finest choristers in Elgar’s exquisite wintertime ode The Snow.”

Tuesday 21st January at 13:30
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Stephen Bell, conductor

Conductor Stephen Bell will be celebrating all things Strauss. Stephen says, “2025 marks the 200th anniversary of Johann Strauss II, surely one of the most popular composers of all time. To celebrate this milestone during our one-hour concert, I’ve tried to include as much variety of his output including waltzes, polkas and a rarely heard Romance for cello and harp.”

Wednesday 5th February at 13:30
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Mia Cooper, director
Emma Roche, piccolo 

Mia Cooper will direct the orchestra from the violin in a programme that includes Haydn’s Military Symphony and Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto.

Speaking about this proogramme, RTÉ Concert Orchestra leader Mia Cooper said, “I was keen to use as many of the orchestra as possible – my sense of fairness can’t stand it the odd time a member might get a sneaky free day and (usually the strings!) the rest of us are scrubbing away on the studio. Very mean of me.
I spoke to John Leonard, our long standing principal bassoonist. John can recall what the orchestra played, where, when, with which conductor, and how it went. He also knows the orchestration for any piece you can mention, and he suggested the pairing of the Military Symphony by Haydn, and Mozart’s Overture to Seraglio. They have the same orchestration, using double wind and THREE percussionists (no one gets a day off).
The feature of both these works is the Turkish-sounding percussion and calls for an instrument called a Turkish Crescent or “Jingling Johnny” to create this colour. It’s a big stick you thump on the ground with bells on it, traditionally used in Turkish military bands. A bit of theatre!
Emma Roche is our wonderful newly appointed second flute and piccolo player, and we’re celebrating her appointment by hearing her play one of Vivaldi’s best loved piccolo concertos.
The March of the Priests is a beautiful processional March (and makes sure those trombonists won’t be sipping cocktails by the pool either).”

*Successful applicants will be contacted by email with their allocated date and number of tickets. For security reasons, you will be asked to provide a mobile number so that you are contactable on the RTÉ site in the event of emergency. This information will be deleted after the event.