Fans of Manchester’s The Halle are in for a treat this month as the world famous orchestra plays at series of concerts at The Bridgewater Hall featuring classical favourites and iconic sci-fi tunes.
So what is The Halle performing at The Bridgewater Hall in March?
Great Sci-Fi Movies
Saturday 10 March 2018, 7.30pm
Music from: Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, Minority Report, Back to the Future, Things to Come, E.T., 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Moonraker, Stargate, Avatar, The Hobbit, and Independence Day
Conductor: Stephen Bell; Featuring Tom Redmond, presenter
Set your phasers to stun and let your imagination run riot with this inter-stellar collection of sci-fi classics. Beam yourself up to The Bridgewater Hall and enjoy a close encounter with the Hallé.
Pre-concert event 6:30pm – at The Bridgewater Hall auditorium, free to concert ticket holders
Hallé Pops Associate Conductor, Stephen Bell, in lively conversation with Tom Redmond discussing topics including conducting, concert planning for Pops concerts and recording film scores.
Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony
Thursday 15 March 2018, 7.30pm
Bach Piano Concerto in D minor BWV 1052
Mendelssohn Psalm 114
Shostakovich Symphony No.8
Conductor: Sir Mark Elder; Featuring: Charles Owen (piano), Hallé Choir, and Hallé Youth Choir
‘A class above the rest’ was how International Piano recently described Charles Owen. For this event he brings his unique spontaneity and skills of interpretation to bear on Bach’s majestic D minor concerto. Both Mendelssohn and Shostakovich were huge admirers of Bach, and much of Mendelssohn’s music, including his great psalm settings, reflects the Baroque master’s influence. Shostakovich’s massive Eighth Symphony was composed during the Second World War and, as his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk had done, landed him in political trouble. In typically cryptic fashion, Shostakovich himself summed up its message in just three words, ‘life is beautiful’, though it is infinitely more complex and dramatic than those words suggest. It ends with just a faint breath of optimism – not enough for the Soviet authorities who wanted a triumphant war symphony instead.
Saint-Saën’s ‘Organ’ Symphony
Wednesday 21 March 2018, 2.15pm; Thursday 22 March 2018, 7.30pm; and Sunday 25 March 2018, 7.30pm
Weber Overture: Oberon
Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3
Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3, ‘Organ’
Conductor: Jonathon Heyward; Featuring: Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), Jonathan Scott (organ)
The Hallé’s Assistant Conductor, Jonathon Heyward, directs Weber’s enchanting and exhilarating Oberon Overture. Over the last few seasons Hallé audiences have adored the playing of Benjamin Grosvenor, one of the finest young pianists in the world. He performs Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, a work that tests the mettle of any soloist. Though initially dark-hued, the piece ends in exuberant fashion. Jonathan Scott then pulls out all the stops in Saint-Saëns’ impressive, fascinatingly-textured ‘Organ’ Symphony. Of composing the piece, Saint-Saëns wrote: ‘I gave everything to it that I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again.’
Hallé Youth Ensembles
Sunday 25 March 2018, 3pm
Conductors: Jonathon Heyward and Stuart Overington; Featuring: Hallé Youth Orchestra, Hallé Youth Choir, Hallé Youth Training Choir, Hallé Children’s Choir
Join the joyously-gifted members of all the Hallé’s Youth Ensembles as they present an afternoon of storytelling, showcasing famous extracts from some of our most popular operas.
Programme to include famous extracts from:
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Verdi’s Nabucco and Bizet’s Carmen.
The Halle Orchestra image courtesy Russel Hart.
