A Dublin orchestra in name only

The Dublin Philharmonic is about to begin an extensive tour of the US, giving Americans a chance to savour the musical talents of an Irish orchestra made up mainly of Bulgarian players

THE Irish Chamber Orchestra's December tour, which was to have featured Siberian violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov as conductor, was an early victim of the economic downturn. A major funder was unable to meet an agreed commitment due to the changed circumstances.

What, then, are the prospects for the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra's 49-concert US tour, which is to run from January to March under its music director and chief conductor, Derek Gleeson, and its principal guest conductor, Colman Pearce? And what, you might well ask, is the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra itself, given that its sole billed appearance at the National Concert Hall was cancelled last month?

Well, the tour is going ahead under the auspices of Columbia Artists Management Inc, beginning in Orlando, Florida, on January 10th (in the 2,353-seat Bob Carr Auditorium) and ending with a St Patrick's Day Celtic Spectacular in the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Concert Hall in Orange County, California.

The Irish flavour will come from the Celtic programme, where home-grown soloists include pianists Conor Linehan and Peter Tuite (replacing the originally announced Finghin Collins), soprano Celine Byrne (replacing Mairéad Buicke), fiddler Frankie Gavin and percussionist Peadar Townsend, among others.

But although the tour's list of supporters includes Culture Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the Ireland-US Council, Irish musicians will, for the most part, be in a tiny minority on this tour. Most of the orchestra players on stage will be from Bulgaria, and Bulgarian players have, in fact, been in the picture from the start.

The description "in the picture" is one that can be taken literally. The main photograph on the orchestra's website and the orchestra's videos on YouTube (of Gleeson conducting Dvorak's New World Symphony) are of Bulgarian musicians performing in a Bulgarian concert hall. Gleeson has been a regular visitor to Bulgaria, and in his CV he lists no less than five institutions in Bulgaria for whom he has conducted: the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonica Bulgarica, the Vratza Philharmonic, Plovdiv State Opera, and the Opera and Philharmonic Society of Bourgas. A promotional DVD of the YouTube performance is clearly labelled Philharmonica Bulgarica.

The Dublin Philharmonic's website (dublinphilharmonic.com) presents a history of the orchestra which claims a linkage back to the Dublin Philharmonic that was active in the capital until the second World War. But the connection is one of name only, and Bulgarian musicians were always part of the plan for the current orchestra's US concerts.

Strange as it may seem, the orchestra had always planned to pay Irish rates to Irish musicians and Bulgarian rates to Bulgarian musicians. As the recession bit in recent months, Irish players who had been asked to play found themselves being dropped. The result is that the Dublin Philharmonic which crosses the Atlantic in January will have a sum total of two Irish players outside of the roster of soloists and conductors.

The Bulgarians may well play the all-Russian programme (Glinka, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky) with an authentic Slav flavour that might elude Irish players (the classical repertoire also includes Beethoven, Brahms and a selection of opera arias). The question is: how will they adapt to the Celtic evening and what will US audiences make of the idea of an Irish orchestra full of Bulgarians?