Arnold: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

"Penny's recorded performances of the first two symphonies are no mean achievement. The playing has spirited spontaneity and it is to be hoped that this well-recorded Naxos disc will tempt many music lovers with limited budgets to discover these highly rewarding works for themselves"
- Gramophone

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he National Symphony Orchestra is one of the most vibrant internationalorchestras playing and recording today. The NSO has developed under the auspices of Radio Telefis Eireann, not only as an integral part of the Irish national broadcasting service, but also as the back bone of classical music throughout Ireland.
In addition to its concert season in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland also undertakes twice-yearly national tours, in association with the Irish Times, ensuring that in addition to fulfilling its broadcasting commitments, RTE brings top-class music making to thousands of people in regional centres.

Around the world too, the NSO is creating a widespread reputation through its multi-disc contract with Naxos, one of the world's largest classical music labels and it is now among the most extensively recorded orchestras in the world. It has earned high international praise for its complete Nielsen cycle, Aida, the Tchaikovsky suites and works by Havergal Brian and Malcolm Arnold, working with artists such as Stefan Sanderling and Maria Kliegel. Current output includes an Irish Composer Series and complete cycles of Rachmaninov and Mendelssohn. The recording of Rubenstein's The Demon at the 1994 Wexford Opera Festival received the German Critic's Quarterly Award and its recording of Meyerbeer's L'Etoile du Nord from the 1996 Festival and the CDs of Bruckner Symphonies nos. 2 and 8 are receiving world-wide critical acclaim. Recent releases include Rachmaninov Symphony no.3, conducted by Alexander Anissimov and Elena de Feltra from the 1997 Wexford Festival.

Having been the resident Orchestra at the Hong Kong Midsummer Classics Festival in 1996, the NSOI toured in the spring of 1997 to Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Innsbruck. In March 1998 the orchestra undertook a concert tour of Germany to great critical acclaim. In July their two concerts in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and received standing ovations under Kasper de Roo and Alexander Anissimov.