This March, The Halle has a series of concerts lined up at The Bridgewater Hall featuring an opera gala, Russian greats, and a conducting debut.
So, what’s The Halle performing at The Bridgewater Hall in March?
Thursday 7 March, 7.30pm
Opera Gala
Verdi The Sicilian Vespers: Overture
Puccini Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro
Verdi Rigoletto: La donna e mobile
Verdi Aida: Ballet
Puccini La Rondine: Doretta’s aria
Donizetti L’Elisir d’amore: Una furtiva lagrima & Chiedi all’aura
Verdi La Forza del Destino: Overture
Rossini The Italian Girl in Algiers: Overture
Puccini Turandot: Nessum Dorma & Liu’s aria: Signora ascolta
Verdi Otello: Ave Maria
Puccini Manon Lescaut: Intermezzo
Puccini La Boheme Act 1 closing scene
Featuring: Gianluca Marcianò (conductor); Anna Patalong (soprano); and Jung Soo Yun (tenor)
Great voices and a great orchestra come together in an evening filled to the brim with passion, imagination and unforgettable melodies. Acclaimed Italian conductor, Gianluca Marcianò and the Hallé are joined by rising stars Anna Patalong and Jung Soo Yun to bring your favourite operas to life.
Wednesday 13 March, 2.15pm; Thursday 14 March, 7.30pm; Sunday 17 March, 7.30pm
Dvorák Scherzo capriccioso
Chopin Piano Concerto No.1
Shostakovich Symphony No.1
Featuring: Tomás Hanus (Conductor); and Eric Lu (Piano)
Czech conductor, Tomás Hanus, conducts Dvorák’s Scherzo capriccioso, bursting with Bohemian charm. Eric Lu, the latest winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition will then take centre stage for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. Shostakovich’s astonishingly assured First Symphony lays out his youthful manifesto of where the symphonic form might go in the twentieth century, with an appreciative nod in the direction of tradition.
Thursday 21 March, 7.30pm
Brahms Haydn Variations
Mozart Piano Concerto No.22, K482
Nielsen Symphony No.5
Featuring: Johannes Debus (conductor); and Pavel Kolesnikov (piano)
Johannes Debus (Music Director with Canadian Opera for a decade), makes his Hallé debut with Brahms’s colourful variations on Haydn’s ‘St Anthony Chorale’. He is joined by the young piano virtuoso Pavel Kolesnikov, winner of the prestigious Honens Prize 2014 who is also making his Hallé debut, for one of Mozart’s most memorably lyrical and sunny piano concertos. Nielsen’s astonishing Fifth Symphony darkens the mood. The composer saw it as ‘the division of dark and light, the battle between evil and good’. A militaristic side-drum threatens to derail the orchestra before a dawn of hope emerges and eventually triumphs. One of the great symphonies, not to be missed.
Pre-concert event 6:30pm – in The Bridgewater Hall auditorium, free to concert ticket holders
Geoffrey Owen, the Hallé’s Head of Artistic Planning discusses Carl Nielsen and his Symphony No.5, followed by a performance of Nielsen’s Little Suite for Strings by members of the Hallé Youth Orchestra.
Saturday 30 March, 7.30pm
Tchaikovsky Overture 1812
Shostakovich Festive Overture
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet: extracts
Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin: Polonaise
Khachaturian Spartacus: Adagio
Shostakovich Tea for Two
Stravinsky Scherzo à la Russe
Featuring: Stephen Bell (conductor); and Danny Driver (piano)
Russia’s extraordinary musical legacy is almost impossible to match. The grandeur and drama of a Russian melody will stir and excite you, love themes will break your heart, and music will, quite literally, go off with a bang! Stephen Bell will lead you through a magnificent selection of Russia’s greatest hits, including Rachmaninov’s gorgeous Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed by the wonderful pianist, Danny Driver.
image of The Halle courtesy Russel Hart
