Ever since Storm Arwen brought an early dusting of snow to Manchester, we’ve felt pretty keen to get our Christmas on. Frankly, there’s nowhere more ready to help us embrace that flurry of festive feeling than the Bridgewater Hall, where The Hallé has lined up seven unmissable shows that could crack even the most anti-Christmas hearts wide open.
Here are Six must-sees taking place over the coming weeks:
There’s three sessions of exquisite Christmas carol singing to choose from this year, all conducted by Stephen Bell. The Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir and Hallé Children’s Choir come together for this merry programme of music, taking in choral favourites and Broadway anthems—including Elf’s Sparklejollytwinklejingley.
Nothing—and we mean NOTHING—gets us in the mood to settle down to a cosy Christmas more than The Snowman, and watching it with a live orchestra (conducted by Ben Palmer) is enough to make a grown up cry. As if that isn’t enough incentive to get on board this family-friendly performance, the production also includes three narrated Lynley Dodd stories presented by Tom Redmond.
Wobble your way back into the world with this post-Christmas shake down in which conductor Stephen Bell is joined by vocalists Alison Jiear and Oliver Tompsett to revisit some of the 1980s biggest power ballads and pop songs. Irene Cara’s Fame classic What A Feeling is set to start the night, but anthems by Dolly Parton, Rick Astley, Wham!, Luther Vandross, Queen and Michael Jackson also feature.
Harry Potter told a great story of wizardry, adventure, bravery and belonging, but the movie adaptations also added a phenomenal soundtrack to the series. This concert pulls some of the greatest bits of that back catalogue together, including Hedwig’s Theme, The Weasley Stomp, Leaving Hogwarts, and Aunt Marge’s Waltz.
Start 2022 by escaping drizzly Manchester on a musical journey to a refined Viennese ballroom, where Strauss dominates the dancefloor and choice cuts of Suppé, Lehár, Gershwin and Binge are also thrown in for a truly transportive programme.
Sun 12 Dec, The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley St, Manchester M2 3WS
- Words:
- Sarah Walters
- Published on:
- Tue 14 Dec 2021
Conductor Stephen Bell leads a rousing programme of Christmas songs—from pop to classical and traditional—with the assistance of singer-actor/baritone Quirijn de Lang and the Hallé Christmas Chorus. Expect everything from Jingle Bells to Panis Angelicus.