Renowned Norwegian violinist to perform with RTÉ Concert Orchestra at Knock Basilica

Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen will join the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at Knock Basilica on Saturday, November 7, at 7.30pm for a thrilling evening of exhilarating music.

With her breath taking artistry, adventurous approach to programming and emotionally charged style of playing, backed by immaculate technique and a drive to defy traditional expectations, Mari Samuelsen inspires a global audience. In demand worldwide as a concert soloist, Mari has performed at leading venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Frankfurt, Zurich, London, the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Lyon, Amsterdam and Ottawa.

As part of the Knock concert Mari will perform Max Richter’s acclaimed take on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons – ‘Recomposed’. Max Richter is a revered composer who has written extraordinarily widely, for concert halls and ballet stages, as well as for catwalk fashion shows and art installations, and of course for a huge number of movie soundtracks (Hamnet, Mary Queen of Scots and Ad Astra among them).

In 2012, when Richter unveiled ‘Recomposed’, it was a daring venture – to literally rewrite one of the classical canon’s most enduringly popular and best-loved creations.

“Max said he thought Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was almost too well known,” explains Samuelsen.

“You’d hear it in lifts, or in hotel lobbies, or on hold music while you’re waiting on the phone.”

Richter’s radical recasting – which sometimes stays respectfully close to the original, but sometimes throws it into a club or a cinematic soundscape – was immediately praised for its freshness, its inventiveness and its uncanny emotional depth and has captivated audiences worldwide.

“It still touches me, no matter how many times I play it,” admits Samuelsen.

Tickets from €27 on Eventbrite/www.knockshrine.ie or in person at the Knock Basilica Information Centre.