The Hallé has announced some very special concerts coming up in June and July. Manchester’s very own Hallé Orchestra – one of the jewels in the local cultural crown – recently announced its Summer season. Taking place at The Bridgewater Hall, the shows will feature a wide array of works – both classical and contemporary. Renowned musicians and conductors from all over Europe have been invited to perform famous pieces and some lesser-known gems, too.
The Hallé and Bridgewater Hall have introduced a number of new measures to make the concerts as safe and enjoyable as possible. These measures include socially distanced seating and the encouraged use of face masks (with the total capacity of The Bridgwater Hall reduced), timed entry into the building, no bar or catering and carefully managed toilets facilities.
Subscriptions and concession tickets are available and anyone in full-time education can get access to these shows from just £5. In order that there is time to post tickets out, sales for individual concerts will close the Monday before each event so book soon to avoid disappointment.
Making a welcome return to the Hallé, Tabita Berglund is a young Norwegian conductor with a growing international reputation. The concert opens with Wagner’s ‘Siegfried Idyll’, which was used, somewhat infamously, in the popular comedy show ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’. Next is Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov’s ‘Last Round’ – an unorthodox take on a tango. Finally, it’s one of Beethoven’s personal favourites – the eponymous Seventh Symphony, with its famous second movement that you’ll know from countless movies.
This performance will also be broadcast via thehalle.vhx.tv from Thursday 24 June.
Vocalists Scott Davies and Jacqui Scott will present a variety of hits from famous musicals. Jacqui has been the leading lady in a host of productions, including ‘Evita’, ‘Cats’, ‘Miss Saigon’, and ‘Chess’. The show includes ‘The Music of the Night’ and ‘All I Ask of You’, from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. Both are sung by Scott, who has played the titular Phantom on stage for over 2,000 performances.
The opener of this show is a piece by Louise Farrenc, who, during her lifetime, held an international reputation as a composer and pianist. What’s more, she was the only female professor at the Paris Conservatoire during 19th century. Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing makes her first visit to the Hallé for Mendelssohn’s enormously popular Violin Concerto. Schumann’s joyful First Symphony welcomes the arrival of Spring with its sunny disposition and beautiful melodies.
In 1959, George Gershwin’s folk opera was adapted into an album featuring Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and now, the award-winning trumpeter Ryan Quigley has recreated and re-orchestrated the album’s arrangements. British jazz legend Enrico Tomasso, who was once mentored by Louis Armstrong himself, will be joined on stage by powerhouse vocalist Nicola Emmanuelle for a rare chance to hear this iconic music performed live.
For the season finale, the Hallé has lined up an all-Russian programme. It begins with a Rimsky-Korsakov suite from his fairy-tale opera ‘The Tale of Tsar Saltan’. Rachmaninov was only 20 when he composed his brooding work ‘The Rock’ but he already demonstrated his mastery of the orchestra. The main event is Stravinsky’s breakthrough work and first masterpiece, ‘The Firebird’. Drawn from Russian folklore, it features the famed ‘Infernal Dance’.
This final performance of the season will also be broadcast on thehalle.vhx.tv from Thursday 29 July.
Thu 3 Jun - Thu 22 Jul, The Bridgewater Hall, The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3WS, Tel: 0161 907 9000, £18.50, £25.50 & £29.50
www.halle.co.uk/summer-2021
- Words:
- A. James Simpkin
- Published on:
- Thu 20 May 2021
The overture to Glinka’s opera ‘Ruslan and Ludmilla’ is the curtain-raiser to the season, and this is followed by Stravinsky’s ballet ‘Petrushka’. The headlining piece is an English classic – a musical arrangement with each section representing a sketch of one of Elgar’s friends. The work has a special connection to the Hallé: Hans Richter conducted the premiere in 1899, the same year that he became the orchestra’s Music Director.
This performance will also be broadcast via thehalle.vhx.tv from Thursday 10 June.