One of the world’s leading lyric sopranos Anne Schwanewilms joins Markus Stenz and the Hallé for Richard Strauss’s deeply-moving Four Last Songs. These glorious settings of poems by Joseph von Eichendorff and Hermann Hesse evoke Spring, September, going to sleep and a peaceful acceptance of our ultimate fate. Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll was composed as a birthday gift to his wife Cosima.
Wednesday 5 February, 2.15pm
Thursday 6 February, 7.30pm
Sunday 9 February, 7.30pm
The Hallé
Wagner Siegfried Idyll
R. Strauss Four Last Songs
Brahms Symphony No.1
In this most tender of works he musically foresaw the future life of their newly-born son Siegfried. The imposing shadow of Beethoven loomed large for Brahms during his drawn-out efforts to produce a First Symphony. We should be grateful for his persistence for it is a work of rugged beauty, graceful lyricism and eventually, triumphant assertion.
Markus Stenz conductor | Anne Schwanewilms soprano
Tickets: £10 – £36 plus booking fees*
£3* student tickets available for Wednesday and Sunday
Limited number of PwC half price tickets for Under 26s available.
Wednesday 5 February sponsored by Manchester Airport
Sunday 9 February, 3pm
Hallé and Hallé Youth Orchestra
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Jamie Phillips conductor
A chance to witness the thrill any young musician would experience as they play alongside the real professionals. The Hallé Youth Orchestra sits side-by-side with the Hallé in an open rehearsal and performance of one of the landmarks of the orchestral repertoire, and a highlight of any player’s musical life.
Tickets: £10, £7.50 concessions, £3 for under 5s/those in full-time education plus booking fees*
Supported by The Oglesby Charitable Trust
Thursday 13 February, 7.30pm
The Hallé
Britten Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia
Ryan Wigglesworth Violin Concerto – world premiere
Berlioz Overture: Le Roi Lear
Debussy La Mer (Three Symphonic Sketches)
Ryan Wigglesworth conductor | Barnabas Kelemen violin
Ryan Wigglesworth makes his Hallé concert debut with the Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from Britten’s great opera Peter Grimes. In these evocative works, the North Sea is as important (and unfathomable) a character as Grimes himself. Further down the coast of Britain, Debussy had put the finishing touches on his great triptych of seascapes La Mer, musical canvases suggesting the sea at different times of the day and in varying weather conditions. In between these briny masterpieces is an exciting opportunity to hear the world premiere of Ryan Wigglesworth’s revised Violin Concerto, unveiled by Barnabas Kelemen. Berlioz’s Le Roi Lear Overture was inspired by Shakespeare’s great tale of betrayal, self-discovery and redemption and even features Lear’s paternal address to his daughters and his furious ravings on ‘the blasted heath’.
Pre-concert event at 6.30pm (free to concert ticket holders)
Tickets: £11 – £38 plus booking fees*
£3* student tickets available
Limited number of PwC half price tickets for Under 26s available.
Friday 14 February, 7.30pm
The Hallé: Valentine’s Day Concert
West Side Story: Tonight Bernstein
My Fair Lady: On The Street Where You Live Loewe
The King And I: I Have Dreamed Rodgers and Hammerstein
Girl Crazy Overture Gershwin
Wedding March Mendelssohn
Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing Fain and Webster
Salut d’amour Elgar
My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose Burns
Romeo And Juliet: selection Prokofiev
Guys And Dolls: selection Loesser
Someone To Watch Over Me Gershwin
Love Story Lai
Stephen Bell conductor | Natasha Marsh soprano | James Edwards tenor
‘If music be the food of love, play on.’ And play on we shall for this evening is packed with devotion, declarations, and undying love. Romantic scores from films, operas and musicals all come together for this very special concert.
Tickets: £17 – £39 plus booking fees*
Limited number of PwC half price tickets for Under 26s available.
Sponsored by Tiffany & Co.
Thursday 27 February, 7.30pm
Ravel Mother Goose (complete ballet music)
R. Strauss Orchestral Songs: Cäcilie; Verführung; Ich Liebe dich; Ruhe, meine Seele; Befreit; Freundliche Vision
Beethoven Symphony No.7
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Steve Davislim tenor
Once upon a time … This evening brings a rare opportunity to hear Ravel’s beguiling ballet score Mother Goose in its glorious entirety. Each movement takes its inspiration from a French fairy tale but this full-length version adds to the fantastical mix some equally charming orchestral interludes. Continuing ‘Strauss’s Voice’, Sir Mark is joined by Steve Davislim – who made his Hallé debut at the 2009 BBC Proms – for a selection of the composer’s wonderful orchestral songs, works of quite breath-taking beauty. The dancing resumes with Beethoven’s great ‘apotheosis of the dance’ (as Wagner aptly dubbed it). Despite the solemnity of its slow movement much of the composer’s Seventh Symphony can barely contain its high-spirited energy. A superb way to end the night!
Pre-Concert Event at 6.30pm (free to concert ticket holders)
Tickets: £11 – £38 plus booking fees*
£3* student tickets available
Limited number of PwC half price tickets for Under 26s available.
Hallé Concerts Society
The Bridgewater Hall
Manchester
M1 5HA
0844 907 9000
www.halle.co.uk | @the_halle | Facebook: The Halle
* The Bridgewater Hall applies a booking fee of £2 per ticket to telephone and online transactions. Tickets bought in person at the Box Office using a debit card or credit card are subject to a 2% booking fee. No fee applies to tickets bought in person and paid for by cash or cheque or purchased as part of a fixed or flexible subscription.
*[ link for more information about booking fees: http://bridgewater-hall.co.uk/booking-info/booking-information/
