Book tickets: Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder at the Bridgewater Hall

A bold performance of Schoenberg’s choral classic Gurrelieder comes to the Bridgewater Hall. It’s rare to muster the gargantuan orchestral and vocal forces to stage the Austrian composer’s late romantic mega-cantata, hence the Hallé Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic joining forces under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. The conductor turns 70 two days before, and there’s enough choral power here to blow out his candles: the Hallé Chorus is joined by ensembles from Edinburgh and London – and a starry list of soloists headed by tenor Brandon Jovanovich as King Waldemar. The work is based on an ancient Danish Saga and tells of the love between Waldemar and the young Tove, later murdered by Waldemar’s jealous Queen. It blends myth, magic and influences from Wagner and Mahler in a powerful score culminating in the closing ‘Hymn to the Sun’. An antidote to the more arid Schoenberg of later years.

Sun 4 Jun, Bridgewater Hall, 27 Peter Street, Manchester M2 5QR. Tel: 0161 907 9000, 6.30pm, from £13.50, www.halle.co.uk