Conductor Niall Kinsella introduces The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein, an 80th anniversary celebration of the legendary 'fathers of musical theatre', which takes place at the National Concert Hall this September.
Conducting the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra is, in many ways, a dream come true for me. Having played piano & celeste in the orchestra several times, I know how intuitively and expertly they perform together, so to stand up on the podium to conduct them is a hugely exciting prospect!
Alongside my work as a vocal accompanist and choral conductor (where I've worked mainly in the classical sphere), I have long had a passion for Musical Theatre repertoire – particularly what I refer to as the 'golden era’ – basically, musicals composed from the 1930s up until about 1975.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s music typifies this golden era, and the very ‘coming of age’ of the American Musical. In 1943, they completely revolutionised the Broadway landscape with their first collaboration, Oklahoma! For the first time, music, lyrics, script, staging and choreography all came together to serve one common goal: telling the story. Rather than frivolous plots patched together with musical numbers and kick-lines of leggy chorus girls, Rodgers and Hammerstein opted for sincere stories about real people: and this was especially evident in the opening of Oklahoma!, where the curtain rose on an old woman churning butter and a cowboy singing "There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow…" – a far cry from the flashy production numbers of Ziegfeld’s Follies!
Part of my artistic vision for this concert was to present this music in their original arrangements – basically, as they were first heard in the theatre. So, we are using largely the original orchestrations, which, in most cases, were by veteran Broadway orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett. Bennett and his fellow orchestrators were responsible for the sound of the Broadway musical. Most composers, with the notable exception of Kurt Weill, did not orchestrate their own shows. (Not even Leonard Bernstein orchestrated West Side Story!)
As well as working with the magnificent RTÉ Concert Orchestra, I’m excited to work with our stunning soloists: Irish operatic sensation Celine Byrne, beloved West End legend Anna-Jane Casey, and star of the global phenomenon Celtic Thunder, Emmet Cahill. The concert is presented by RTÉ lyric fm’s Liz Nolan, who just has the most impeccable way with words!
So, the challenge with a programme like ours is not what we can put in, but what we have to leave out! We are including songs from eight of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s eleven musicals – the hits: Oklahoma!, Carousel, State Fair, South Pacific, The King and I, Cinderella, Flower Drum Song, and of course The Sound of Music. We will perform some of their most iconic songs, such as Climb Ev’ry Mountain, The Sound of Music, I’m gonna wash that man right outta my hair, You’ll Never Walk Alone, plus orchestral music, like The Carousel Waltz and the Overture to South Pacific.
I feel this music is part of our collective cultural psyche: so many of us grew up seeing these musicals on TV at Christmas time. They are perennial classics and they are timeless. This concert celebrates 80 years since the beginning of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s remarkable collaboration.
The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein is at the National Concert Hall on 6th September 2023 - find out more here.
