RTÉ Concert Orchestra member (and celebrated oboist) David Agnew celebrates 70 years of the RTÉCO.
The first studio broadcast of 22 musicians called the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra took place on 1st March 1948. Some musicians kept turning up day after day, unsure whether they actually had a full-time job or not. They were primarily a broadcasting orchestra, recorded and live radio programmes - arrangements were often done on the day for whatever forces they had. There was a legendary upright piano with thumbtacks stuck in the hammers for when they needed a harpsichord sound, it was still being used in 1978. Radio programmes, live or recorded, could include everything from operatic arias, Irish ballads, jazz standards and classical salon orchestra pieces. Versatility, variety, entertainment , great sight-reading, facility in many styles... these were the qualities required from individual musicians in such a small and compact group.
Dana winning the Eurovision and RTÉ hosting the contest in 1971 showed a clear demand for an international standard TV/Radio orchestra and by 1978, expanding to 36 musicians, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra was formed. Names from the folklore of Irish musicians included Noel Kelehan, arranger extraordinaire and conductor of 29 Eurovision Song Contests. Audrey Parks-Collins, first Leader, and husband Archie Collins, viola - nothing moved in Ireland musically without them being involved; shows, musicals, operas, freelance concerts, pop song recordings - every day, the full range of orchestral music being created and explored. Benny McNeill, trumpeter, a legend in music circles, initiated many an ingenue musician into the grueling daily grind of recording, performing and producing exactly what was required when it was required. You either could or you couldn't, there was rarely a halfway house. If you were asked back, you had passed the test. With the opening of the National Concert Hall in 1981, the orchestra's broadcast commitments were enhanced by a wide range of concert performances, including film music, popular classics, musicals and regular family events ,most of which achieved high audience figures as well as providing a new stream of radio output.
At the same time the orchestra, now 45 musicians strong, became synonymous with TV, National Song Contests, New Year's Eve broadcasts, variety shows like Make Mine Music, Music of the Night, Off the Record, An Eye on the Music and the Gay Byrne Music Show, and an extraordinary run of Eurovision Song Contests following wins by Johnny Logan in 1980 and 1987, Linda Martin in 1992, Niamh Kavanagh in 1993, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan in 1994, Eimear Quinn in 1997 and not forgetting Secret Garden, with a former member of the orchestra, Fionnuala Sherry, winning in 1995 - almost an Irish win.
Since 1978, many famous names have graced the stage with the RTÉCO: Celine Dion, winning the Eurovision in 1988. Michael Flatley and Jean Butler taking the world by storm with Bill Whelan's Riverdance in 1994. International artists such as Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Kiri te Kanawa, Angela Gheoghiu, Lang Lang, all fit as easily onstage with this orchestra as iconic composers Lalo Schifrin, Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch, as do The Chieftains, Sinead O Connor, Colm Wilkinson, Declan O Rourke, Altan, Duke Special, Imelda May, Sharon Shannon and Jenny Greene's 90s Dance Anthems.
They are as at home performing for the Pope in the Vatican, as they are in over 350 opera performances, 2,500 concerts in the National Concert Hall, 500 performances for school children, several American tours and a recent tour to China, or accompanying screen classics like Lord of the Rings, The Godfather, The Wizard of Oz, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Aliens, Psycho and Casablanca.
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra continue to be an integral part of Irish community and city culture, at home and abroad. Versatility, variety and world-class entertainment still their calling card. Long may it continue.
