The Halle is set to hold a number of concerts in February, including a Valentine’s Day Special and a programme of Rachmaninov, Mahler and Shostakovich. We take a look at what’s coming up over the next few weeks.
Thursday 11 February, 7.30pm
Thursday Series – Rachmaninov, Mahler and Shostakovich
Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead; Mahler Kindertotenlieder; Shostakovich Symphony No.15
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Roderick Williams baritone
This concert opens with Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, his great, mystical tone poem depicting Charon, the ferryman of Greek mythology. The composition of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder features tonight the renowned Roderick Williams, these gentle and intimate songs express sorrow, tenderness, wistfulness and finally, resignation to fate. Shostakovich likened the first movement of his fifteenth and last symphony to a ‘toy shop’.
Pre-concert event at 6.30pm: Hallé horn player, animateur and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster, Tom Redmond, offers insights into tonight’s programme looking at the influences behind the music with the theme of Fate again making an appearance. Musical illustration is provided by pupils from Chetham’s School of Music.
Tickets from £13 (including £2 booking fee)
PwC under 26 tickets available
Student tickets £5 (including £2 booking fee)
Sunday 14 February, 7.30pm
Hallé Pops – Valentine’s Day Concert
The programme includes: Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet (extract); Wagner Lothengrin: Prelude to Act 3 and Elsa’s Dream; Gounod Roméo et Juliette: L’amour…Ah! Lève toi, soleil!; Puccini La bohème: Act 1 Finale; Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream: Wedding March; Puccini Madame Butterfly: Un bel di and Act I duet; Puccini Tosca: Recondita armonia; Massenet Méditation from Thaïs; Bizet Carmen: Flower Song and Suite; Brodszky Be My Love; Stephen Sondheim West Side Story: ‘Somewhere’; Elgar Salut d’Amour
Stephen Bell conductor | Natalya Romaniw soprano | David Butt Philip tenor
Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, Tosca, Madame Butterfly and West Side Story are just a few of the musical love stories on offer tonight, setting the mood for an evening of timeless romance.
Tickets from £20 (including £2 booking fee)
PwC under 26 tickets available
Wednesday 17 February, 2.15pm; Thursday 18 February, 7.30pm; Sunday 21 February, 7:30pm
February Opus – R.Strauss, Grieg and Sibelius
Strauss Don Juan; Grieg Piano Concerto; Sibelius Symphony No.5
Okko Kamu conductor | Alexander Gavrylyuk piano
The distinguished Finnish conductor, Okko Kamu, conducts the Fifth Symphony of his greatest compatriot Sibelius. It is an optimistic piece that concludes majestically with what Sibelius called his ‘Swan Hymn’. Multi-award-winning Alexander Gavrylyuk is a pianist of great sensitivity and technical prowess and in these concerts he performs Grieg’s ever-popular Concerto
Tickets from £13 (including £2 booking fee)
PwC under 26 tickets available
Student tickets £5 (including £2 booking fee)
Saturday 19 February, 7.30pm – Halle St Peter’s
Hallé Tea Dance
A tea dance with a difference
Put your dancing shoes on and join a tea dance with a difference. A wonderful opportunity to socialise and dance in the beautiful surroundings of Hallé St Peter’s, in Ancoats.
Tickets £7.50
Saturday 27 February, 7.30pm
Echoes of a Mountain Song
The programme includes: Stravinsky Four Norwegian Moods; Delius Song of the High Hills; Rachmaninov Three Russian Songs; Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Malin Christensson soprano | Robin Tritschler tenor | Hallé Choir
Part of The Bridgewater Hall’s ‘Echoes of a Mountain Song’ collaborative series celebrating northern landscapes and the creativity they inspire.
Sir Mark conducts programme that begins with Stravinsky’s Four Norwegian Moods, a work that draws on genuine folk songs. Rachmaninov’s Three Russian Songs are also greatly influenced by folk song and express deep nostalgia for the composer’s homeland, from which he was by then in exile. In his Song of the High Hills Delius expressed ‘the joy and rapture’ he experienced in the mountains of Norway, a wordless chorus adding to the effect. The concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s magnificent tone poem Francesca da Rimini.
Tickets from £13 (including £2 booking fee)
PwC under 26 tickets available
Student tickets £5 (including £2 booking fee)
The Halle Orchestra. Image credit to Russel Hart.
