Donnacha Dennehy - Limina (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Donnacha Dennehy

• “Limina” Piano Concerto
• Violin Concerto

Eliza McCarthy, piano

Stephen Waarts, violin

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland

Ryan McAdams, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Nonesuch

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Limina features world-premiere recordings of two concertos by Grammy Award–winning composer Donnacha Dennehy, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland under conductor Ryan McAdams, with pianist Eliza McCarthy and violinist Stephen Waarts. The album pairs Dennehy’s first multi-movement Violin Concerto, originally written for Augustin Hadelich, with his playful piano concerto Limina. Praised by The Guardian as "firmly grounded... and joyously unfettered," the release captures Dennehy’s distinct approach to concerto form, seamlessly combining rhythmic drive, explorations of the harmonic series, and dynamic soloist-orchestra interactions.

Born in Dublin in 1970, Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy studied at Trinity College Dublin, earned his doctorate at the University of Illinois under a Fulbright Scholarship, and completed post-doctoral studies with Gérard Grisey and Louis Andriessen. In 1997, he co-founded the contemporary ensemble Crash Ensemble and joined the music faculty at Princeton University in 2014. Celebrated for incorporating microtones, harmonic spectra, and traditional sean nós vocals into his compositions, Dennehy’s acclaimed catalog includes portrait albums on NMC and Nonesuch Records, alongside notable operas and large-scale works such as The Last Hotel and The Hunger.

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