A message from Sir Mark Elder Few composers can claim to have changed the course of musical history. Beethoven was one, as our complete cycle of his symphonies last season reminded us so vividly. Richard Wagner was certainly another who wouldn’t have contradicted the many claims on his behalf! In 2013 we will celebrate Wagner’s 200th anniversary with an opera that has been part of my life for many years. Wagner in general, and ‘Die Meistersinger’ in particular occupies a special place in the history of this great orchestra. One of my predecessors, Hans Richter, who assisted Wagner on the score, chose the Overture to open his first Manchester concert in 1899, and also made his farewell with the same work twelve years later. In February we will perform the third act, a glorious celebration and a reminder of how singing reaches to the heart of our community. We will involve musicians and singers not only from our own family – the Hallé Choir and Youth Choir – but also the best young voices from the Royal Northern College of Music, Chetham’s School of Music and the University of Manchester. A true ‘Mastersingers of Manchester’, where young talent sings its heart out alongside world-class soloists and orchestra. I am full of anticipation for the season. We open the Thursday Series with Holst’s mighty ‘Planets’ suite and follow that with some of the most original and exciting works in the repertoire: Janáˇcek’s Sinfonietta and ‘Taras Bulba’, Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony, Mahler’s First and Fourth Symphonies and his ‘Wunderhorn’ Songs (with two wonderful soloists, Angelika Kirchschlager and Jacques Imbrailo). All great works and favourites of mine, some of which we have performed together in the past, but which I can’t wait to revisit. In honour of the centenary of Benjamin Britten we have chosen to present three early and unfamiliar works that reflect his natural theatrical imagination. I will conduct an extended suite from his exotic ballet ‘The Prince of the Pagodas’ and his bitingly satirical cantata, ‘Our Hunting Fathers’, which we have placed alongside other works more positively inspired by the enduring culture of the hunt which has influenced so many composers over the centuries. Britten’s third work is his delightful lost clarinet concerto (reconstructed by Colin Matthews, and to be given its Hallé premiere by Lynsey Marsh). I am particularly looking forward to the newly-commissioned work from our exciting young Associate Composer, Helen Grime.
Markus Stenz conducts Bruckner here for the first time – the ‘Romantic’ Fourth Symphony. Gerard McBurney has devised a brilliant performing version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, which young Manchester actors will present alongside every note Mendelssohn wrote to accompany the play. Cristian Mandeal brings his visionary interpretation of Schubert’s ‘Great’ C major Symphony, and we are pleased to welcome back André de Ridder, Nikolaj Znaider and Andrew Manze, all of whom have enjoyed considerable success with the Hallé. Some very distinguished friends and colleagues, alongside myself and Markus Stenz, will take care of the Opus One Series. Yan Pascal Tortelier, Okko Kamu and Christian Zacharias are always welcome, as are their younger colleagues Rory Macdonald and Andrew Gourlay, now enjoying successful careers of their own, and the rising German conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens makes his Hallé debut. As ever, we will be bringing exciting new talent to the platform, as well as familiar soloists whose musicmaking is a joy. This season the roster of pianists includes Paul Lewis, Sunwook Kim, Nelson Goerner, Christian Zacharias, Evgenia Rubinova, Martin Roscoe (in his 60th birthday year) and the outstanding newcomer, Saleem Abboud Ashkar. The inaugural winner of the Terence Judd-Hallé Award, to be chosen by myself and the Orchestra at the finals of the 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition, will join us in November. Apart from all this dazzling pianistic talent, we will be particularly happy to welcome back the communicative musical personalities of Alisa Weilerstein and Henning Kraggerud, with whom I am looking forward to exploring Nielsen’s original and endearing Violin Concerto. Enjoy reading our season brochure; I hope there is much to whet your appetite and bring you to this magnificent concert hall. We look forward to welcoming you over the coming months!
Sir Mark Elder CBE Music Director
We are delighted to announce something new for our 2012-2013 season. As many of you will know, we are considering programming one of the Opus One concerts as a matinee in future seasons. As part of this process we are adding a mid-week matinee to four of our Opus One programmes this year to help us evaluate our audience’s response. The additional matinee performances will be held at 2.15pm on the Thursday of the Opus One concerts in September, November, December and January, and are clearly marked in your calendar. We hope that people who prefer not to come into Manchester in the evening will be able to join us for the first time, or perhaps come back to our concerts. Help us spread the word! Prices, concessionary discounts and programmes will be identical to the corresponding evening concerts, but if you book all four matinees together, you can save 10%. Don’t forget that one of the best ways to save money is to take out a Hallé subscription. There is more information about how our different packages can help you at the back of this brochure. All you have to do is choose your favourite series and contact the Box Office. You can also see our wide range of concessionary discounts. Groups, anyone under 26, senior citizens and others can all benefit, and our popular £3 ticket for those in full-time education is available for our Opus One Wednesday, Opus One matinee and Thursday Series concerts, as well as some performances within the Collection. Public booking for all our concerts opens on Monday 14 May online, by post, by phone and in person. You can ring 0844 907 9000 or visit www.halle.co.uk, or you can subscribe online at www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk (you need to register).
Your email is important Given the recent increases in postage costs it is even more important for us to use emails to contact you whenever we can. This means that we can keep you fully up to date with any changes that may take place at short notice, it is the best way to receive concert reminders and to find out about any special offers throughout the season. It also helps to save us money. Simply give the Box Office your email address and your permission for us to contact you the next time you are buying tickets.
SEPTEMBER 2012 M
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Wednesday 19, Thursday 20 and Sunday 23 September, 7.30pm MATINEE Thursday 20 September, 2.15pm Opus One Concerts Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 Sibelius Symphony No.2
48' 43'
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Sunwook Kim piano 3
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In 2006, at the age of just eighteen, the remarkable Korean pianist Sunwook Kim became the youngest winner of the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition for forty years. In these concerts he joins Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé for a performance of Brahms’s majestic Second Piano Concerto, a work that will showcase both his refined sense of lyricism and immaculate technique. After the interval is Sibelius’s powerful and romantic Second Symphony. Though the composer denied it was his ‘Liberation Symphony’ – a piece depicting Finnish resistance to Russian imperialism – a sense of epic struggle lies at its core. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY AND MATINEE
BRAHMS SIBELIUS STRAVINSKY SHOSTAKOVICH HOLST
19 SEPTEMBER SPONSORED BY
Thursday 27 September, 7.30pm Thursday Series Stravinsky Feu d’artifice (Fireworks) Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1 Holst The Planets
5' 29' 50'
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Alisa Weilerstein cello Ladies of the Hallé Choir Sir Mark and the Hallé open the Thursday Series with a heady blend of Russian and British repertoire. Stravinsky’s Fireworks is a highly descriptive and colourfully orchestrated work that pays tribute to his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov. Rising star of the cello Alisa Weilerstein plays Shostakovich’s First Concerto. A highly personal piece (he later quoted it in his autobiographical eighth String Quartet), it is also highly virtuosic with an astonishing six-minute cello cadenza. From the merciless, apocalyptic power of Mars the Bringer of War to quicksilver Mercury and the rarefied strains of Neptune, Holst’s cosmic musical vision The Planets is one that never fails to impress. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
OCTOBER 2012 M
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BIZET ORFF WAGNER BRUCKNER ˇ DVORÁK BEETHOVEN
Saturday 13 October, 7.30pm Pops: Carmina Burana Canteloube Songs of the Auvergne Bizet The Pearl Fishers: Duet Orff Carmina Burana
10' 5' 62'
Stephen Bell conductor | soloists tba Hallé Choir | Hallé Children’s Choir
18' 68'
Markus Stenz conductor | Catherine Foster soprano The yearning opening chords of the prelude Wagner wrote for his opera Tristan and Isolde – a work stimulated by his love for the poet Mathilde Wesendonck – have been described as ‘the beginning of modern music’. True or not, both this and the Liebestod that concludes the opera so movingly are some of the most passionate and sensuous musical statements ever made. Acclaimed soprano Catherine Foster takes the role of Isolde. Markus Stenz then reveals the magnificent musical architecture of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony. As its subtitle suggests, it is a romantic work and one that builds steadily to breathtaking climactic peaks. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Dvoˇrák Cello Concerto Beethoven Symphony No.3, ‘Eroica’
38' 48'
Markus Stenz conductor | Miklós Perényi cello
Thursday 18 October, 7.30pm Thursday Series Wagner Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod Bruckner Symphony No.4, ‘Romantic’
Wednesday 24, Thursday 25 and Sunday 28 October, 7.30pm Opus One Concerts
The Hallé’s Principal Guest Conductor Markus Stenz tonight teams up with Miklós Perényi for what is possibly the greatest of all cello concertos – that of the great Czech master Dvoˇrák. ‘Had I known such a cello concerto as that could be written, I would have tried to compose one myself’ said no lesser a figure than Johannes Brahms. The last work Dvoˇrák completed in America, it is nevertheless thoroughly Czech, at different times nostalgic, melancholy and dance-like. Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony remains one of the most revolutionary statements in the entire history of music. Shocking to the composer’s contemporaries, it still retains an ability to provoke, thrill and inspire today. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 2012 M
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BEETHOVEN NIELSEN RACHMANINOV PROKOFIEV STRAVINSKY ˇ DVORÁK ˇ JANÁCEK ROSSINI MOZART TCHAIKOVSKY SCHUBERT
Thursday 1 November, 7.30pm Thursday Series Beethoven Overture: The Ruins of Athens Nielsen Violin Concerto Rachmaninov Symphony No.3
6' 34' 45'
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Henning Kraggerud violin Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud is fast becoming one of the most sought-after artists on the international circuit. He joins Sir Mark for Nielsen’s magnificent yet rarely-performed Violin Concerto, a fine example of the Danish composer’s unique style and one that contains a musical tribute to Bach. As Rachmaninov’s soulful, highly melodic Third Symphony shows, the composer remained in the 1930s a glorious romantic anachronism. There are, however, echoes of more modern influences, as well as deep nostalgia for the exiled Rachmaninov’s Russian homeland. First in the concert is the dramatic and vigorous overture Beethoven composed for the stage play The Ruins of Athens. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Saturday 10 November, 7.30pm Collection HALLÉ 1858 CONCERT
Prokofiev Sonata for Violins Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms Dvoˇrák Scherzo capriccioso Janáˇcek Sinfonietta
13' 22' 13' 25'
Sir Mark Elder conductor Hallé Choir | Hallé Children’s Choir This concert of great Russian and Czech music opens intriguingly with a rare performance of Prokofiev’s Sonata for Violins, a work inspired by Bach’s Third Partita given by an ensemble of violinists in unison. If any piece by Stravinsky can profoundly move the spirit and emotions it is his Symphony of Psalms. The work’s singular sound-world suggests Byzantine domes, candles, ritual and spicy, intoxicating incense. In contrast to Dvoˇrák’s exhilarating Scherzo, which brims over with Bohemian charm, is Janáˇcek’s Sinfonietta, musical nationalism at its glorious best. Written in 1926, soon after the creation of the state of Czechoslovakia, its stirring trumpet fanfares and lean muscularity proclaims the pride and strength of the new Czech nation. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Wednesday 14, Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 November, 7.30pm MATINEE Thursday 15 November, 2.15pm Opus One Concerts Rossini Overture: The Italian Girl in Algiers Mozart Piano Concerto No.27, K595 Tchaikovsky Symphony No.1, ‘Winter Dreams’
Saturday 24 November, 7.30pm Pops: What The World Needs Now The music of Burt Bacharach 9'
33' 42'
Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor | Martin Roscoe piano Martin Roscoe, celebrating his 60th birthday this season, joins another old friend of the Hallé, Yan Pascal Tortelier, for the understated beauty of Mozart’s final piano concerto. Less extrovert than most of Mozart’s earlier essays in the form, its musical language is more resigned and wistful (at least, that is, until its jaunty finale). Tchaikovsky called his First Symphony ‘a sin of my sweet youth’ but we can certainly forgive him for this most delightful of creations, a charming series of musical pictures evoking the sights, sounds and atmosphere of a Russian winter. The concert opens with the sparkling overture Rossini composed for his opera The Italian Girl in Algiers. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY AND MATINEE
Thursday 22 November, 7.30pm Thursday Series Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 Schubert Symphony No.9, ‘The Great’
34' 48'
Cristian Mandeal conductor Winner of the Terence Judd-Hallé Award at the 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition. The winner of the prestigious Terence Judd-Hallé Award joins the Hallé for Beethoven’s youthful First Piano Concerto, a work of great brilliance and immediacy. Though modelled on the late piano concertos of Mozart, Beethoven’s own musical voice is already very much in evidence. Cristian Mandeal then conducts the final symphony of that other great genius of the late classical period, Franz Schubert. Known as ‘The Great C Major’, it is an enthralling symphonic journey with a joyous sense of freedom and discovery. Its finale is a remarkable act of unrelenting musical energy. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
The programme includes: Magic Moments; Do You Know The Way To San José?; Don’t Make Me Over; Anyone Who Had A Heart; Wives And Lovers; Trains And Boats And Planes; Walk On By; Close To You; What’s New Pussycat?; Say A Little Prayer; 24 Hours From Tulsa; Casino Royale; I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself; Alfie; Arthur’s Theme; What The World Needs Now and much more. Richard Balcombe conductor Alison Jiear, Sarah Lark, Cat Simmons and Graham Bickley vocalists
DECEMBER 2012
Saturday 1 December, 7.30pm Collection Handel Messiah
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HANDEL RACHMANINOV PROKOFIEV GRIEG HAYDN ˇ DVORÁK
135'
Stephen Layton conductor | Julia Doyle soprano Clint van der Linde countertenor Nicholas Mulroy tenor | Neal Davies bass-baritone Hallé Choir December just wouldn’t be the same without Handel’s glorious Messiah. Soon after its first performance in 1742 it was established as a national treasure, before the Victorians made it the rock on which an entire choral tradition was built. Back then vocal and orchestral forces of literally thousands would perform Messiah – most famously in London’s Crystal Palace – but today, as the Hallé’s more modest (though magnificent) staging will show, the taste is for authentic readings of Handel’s masterpiece. Whether you’re a Messiah regular or new to the work, The Bridgewater Hall is the perfect setting for this richly satisfying musical treat.
Thursday 6 December, 7.30pm Thursday Series Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet: excerpts
40' 40'
Nikolaj Znaider conductor | Nelson Goerner piano Following his remarkable performance of Ravel’s Concerto for the left hand last season, Nelson Goerner returns for a very different kind of pianistic challenge – Rachmaninov’s massive, melodious and technicallytaxing Third Concerto. Rachmaninov claimed its beautiful opening statement ‘wrote itself’ but rest assured, the piece certainly doesn’t play itself! Goerner’s performance is much anticipated. Another welcome returnee is Nikolaj Znaider, who thrilled Hallé audiences last season as both violinist and conductor. Tonight he conducts excerpts from Prokofiev’s ever-popular ballet Romeo and Juliet, a superb score that graphically portrays the mutual loathing of Shakespeare’s rival clans and the tragic fate of the two young lovers. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Saturday 8 December, 7.30pm Pops: Curtain Up! Great Opera Overtures The programme includes overtures and intermezzi from Ruslan and Ludmilla; Hansel and Gretel; The Thieving Magpie; The Force of Destiny; Nabucco; The Magic Flute; Die Meistersinger; Cavalleria rusticana and La bohème. Andrew Gourlay conductor
17' 16' 42'
Karl-Heinz Steffens conductor | Gareth Small trumpet In 2007, when Karl-Heinz Steffens gave up his distinguished career as a clarinettist to focus on conducting, a Berlin newspaper announced that ‘the music world has gained a Maestro burning for action’. His fire and passion will come to the fore in Grieg’s Four Norwegian Dances, works full of beautiful tunes and energetic dance rhythms. Dvoˇrák’s ‘New World’ Symphony – his most famous work – evokes the vast distances and folk music of America as well as the composer’s nostalgia for his native Bohemia. In between these two nationalistic works, the Hallé’s outstanding Principal Trumpet Gareth Small moves to the front of the stage to perform Haydn’s brilliant and popular concerto. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY AND MATINEE
Sunday 16 December, 3pm Christmas Family Concert
Peter Stark conductor | Trisha Cooper presenter Hallé Choir | Hallé Youth Choir Hallé Youth Training Choir | Hallé Children’s Choir
Friday 21 December, 7.30pm The Hallé’s Christmas Cracker
Wednesday 12, Thursday 13 and Sunday 16 December, 7.30pm MATINEE Thursday 13 December, 2.15pm Opus One Concerts Grieg Four Norwegian Dances Haydn Trumpet Concerto Dvoˇrák Symphony No.9, ‘From the New World’
Thursday 20 December, 7.30pm Saturday 22 December, 3pm Sunday 23 December, 3pm and 7.30pm Hallé Carol Concerts
The programme includes: Sleigh Ride; The Snowman; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; excerpts from The Nutcracker; The Little Drummer Boy and you can join in with Jingle Bell Rock; Frosty the Snowman; It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas; White Christmas and The Twelve Days of Christmas. Roderick Dunk conductor Elin Manahan Thomas soprano
Saturday 22 December, 7.30pm Hallé Youth Orchestra concert Saturday 29 December, 7.30pm Boogie Nights More Sounds of the ’70s The programme includes: Disco Inferno; Night Fever; Le Freak; Blame It On The Boogie; Car Wash; Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now; Boogie Nights; Love Train; Live And Let Die; Nobody Does it Better; We’ve Only Just Begun; Could It Be Magic; Can’t Smile Without You; Copacabana; My Cherie Amour; Isn’t She Lovely; You Are the Sunshine Of My Life; Cracklin’ Rosie; When Will I See You Again; I Will Survive; You’re The First, The Last, My Everything, Y.M.C.A. and much more. Roderick Dunk conductor | Capital Voices
with Alasdair Malloy
Sunday 30 December, 7.30pm Superheroes! The programme includes music from Pirates of the Caribbean; The Magnificent Seven; Rocky; Lawrence of Arabia; The Pink Panther; James Bond; The Godfather; Chariots of Fire; Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Star Wars; Superman and Gladiator. Carl Davis conductor
JANUARY 2013
Saturday 5 January, 3pm New Year in Vienna
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The programme includes songs from The Merry Widow, The Land of Smiles, Gypsy Baron and La Belle Hélène as well as the Emperor Waltz; Pizzicato Polka; Gold and Silver Waltz; Radetzky March; Overture from Die Fledermaus and of course On the Beautiful Blue Danube.
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Thursday 17 January, 7.30pm Thursday Series
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Ligeti Concert Romanesc Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 Brahms Symphony No.4
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J. STRAUSS I LIGETI BEETHOVEN BRAHMS RODRIGO MENDELSSOHN TCHAIKOVSKY BRITTEN RAVEL ˇ JANÁCEK
David Parry conductor | Toby Spence tenor
12' 35' 42'
André de Ridder conductor Saleem Abboud Ashkar piano The distinguished Palestinian-Israeli pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar was recently commended for his ‘commanding virtuosity and pearly light dexterity’ as well as his ‘fine feeling for the poetic’. He brings these skills to Beethoven’s C minor concerto, a work which is in turn dramatic, meditative and dance-like. The autumnal glow and sheer lyricism of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony has delighted audiences ever since its rapturously-received premiere in 1897 – the composer’s last and greatest musical triumph. György Ligeti is one of Hungary’s most significant musical voices. His spicy and atmospheric Concert Romanesc (Romanian Concerto) has an authentically Eastern European flavour and quite infectious energy. Former Hallé Assistant Conductor André de Ridder conducts this intriguing programme. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Saturday 19 January, 7.30pm Pops: España Part of The Bridgewater Hall’s Classical Guitar Weekend, curated by Craig Ogden
Chabrier Rhapsody: España Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez Falla The Three Cornered Hat: Three Dances Bizet Carmen: selection Ravel Boléro Oliver Gooch conductor | Craig Ogden guitar
7' 21' 13' 20' 16'
Wednesday 23, Thursday 24 and Sunday 27 January, 7.30pm MATINEE Thursday 24 January, 2.15pm Opus One Concerts Mendelssohn Overture: The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Brahms Symphony No.3
10' 32' 37'
Okko Kamu conductor | Evgenia Rubinova piano Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture was inspired by a voyage to Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa. So vivid is this musical seascape (you can almost smell the saltwater) that it popularised the cave as a tourist venue. The distinguished Finnish conductor Okko Kamu – a long-time friend of the orchestra – is joined by Evgenia Rubinova who returns to the Hallé for one of the most popular works ever written, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. It begins with a majestic introduction and ends with a fiery Cossack dance. The composition of Brahms’s richly melodic Third Symphony was prompted by a visit to the beautiful banks of the Rhine. This piece has always had many admirers – among them Sir Edward Elgar. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY AND MATINEE
Thursday 31 January, 7.30pm Thursday Series Britten The Prince of the Pagodas: suite Ravel Shéhérazade Janáˇcek Taras Bulba: Rhapsody for Orchestra
40' 17' 23'
Sir Mark Elder conductor Christine Rice mezzo-soprano Much of Britten’s ballet score The Prince of the Pagodas was written after a holiday in Bali. The island’s intensely musical culture – including its hauntingly beautiful gamelan music – inspired in the composer some of his most exotic sounds and instrumental textures. Exotic too is Ravel’s magically evocative song cycle Shéhérazade, a superbly orchestrated setting of three poems by the composer’s friend Tristan Klingsor. Then to Eastern Europe for Janáˇcek’s homage to the fictional Cossack leader Taras Bulba. What the composer called his ‘musical testimony’ to the courage of the Slavic people is suitably heroic and builds to a majestic climax, organ and brass combining to magnificent effect. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
FEBRUARY 2013
Sunday 10 February, 4pm Collection Wagner Die Meistersinger: Act III (complete)
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WAGNER TCHAIKOVSKY BARBER DELIUS SHOSTAKOVICH BERNSTEIN GERSHWIN MOZART MENDELSSOHN
124'
Sir Mark Elder conductor Hallé Choir | Hallé Youth Choir RNCM Chamber Choir | Chetham’s Chamber Choir Ad Solem - University of Manchester Choir The Hallé Members of the Hallé Youth Orchestra and Chetham’s School of Music Cast includes Hans Sachs Iain Paterson bass-baritone Walther von Stolzing Michael Weinius tenor Eva Pogner Rebecca Evans soprano David Allan Clayton tenor Sixtus Beckmesser Christopher Purves baritone Veit Pogner Brindley Sherratt bass Fritz Kothner David Stout baritone Wagner’s great comedy, Die Meistersinger is the story of an entire community. In honour of his 200th anniversary we present an event uniting as many Manchester musicians as possible. In part one Sir Mark, soloists and young musicians from the Hallé Youth Orchestra and Chetham’s School of Music will set the scene and tell the story of the opera with extended highlights, before the Hallé performs the Third Act. Wagner’s most accessible and tender creation is richly melodic and takes as its subject the art of songwriting and the conflict between tradition and innovation. Set in the vibrant world of sixteenth century Nuremberg, where artists formed the elite of society, it is a work of great humour and humanity that everyone adores. For this very special concert performance, Sir Mark and the Hallé are joined by an impressive cast of soloists and considerable choral forces. It promises to be a true ‘Mastersingers of Manchester’ and an evening you won’t forget. The event begins at 4pm with the performance of Act III at 6pm £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Wednesday 13, Thursday 14 and Sunday 17 February, 7.30pm Opus One Concerts Tchaikovsky Fantasy Overture: Romeo and Juliet Barber Violin Concerto Delius The Walk to the Paradise Garden Shostakovich Symphony No.6
Thursday 28 February, 7.30pm Thursday Series 22' 22' 10' 30'
Andrew Gourlay conductor | Valeriy Sokolov violin The Walk to the Paradise Garden is a sumptuously orchestrated entr’acte Delius wrote for his most successful opera A Village Romeo and Juliet – the Shakespearian original of which inspired Tchaikovsky to compose his brooding and dramatic Fantasy Overture. Samuel Barber’s ravishingly romantic Violin Concerto, is a work both lyrical and stunningly virtuosic. The Hallé’s outstanding former Assistant Conductor Andrew Gourlay rounds off events with his reading of Shostakovich’s fascinating Sixth Symphony. It begins with an extraordinary slow movement and progresses through a scherzo to a triumphant (and wonderfully unruly) conclusion. 14 FEBRUARY SPONSORED BY £3
Saturday 23 February, 7.30pm Pops: Stars and Stripes
Stephen Bell conductor | Viv McLean piano
3' 7' 14' 5' 8' 16' 9' 18'
15' 75'
Markus Stenz conductor Valda Wilson soprano | mezzo-soprano tba | actors tba Ladies of the Hallé Choir and Hallé Youth Choir David Shirley director The captivating score Mendelssohn composed for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is conjured up in the British premiere of an ingenious setting of Shakespeare’s text by Gerard McBurney. Every note of Mendelssohn’s music is heard, with Shakespeare’s evocative lines spoken by young Manchester actors. Feuding fairies, royalty and romance, magic and mishaps: the bard’s comedy has them all. And as for the music, from the majesty of its famous wedding march to the gossamer grace of its ‘fairy’ scherzo, this is Mendelssohn at his most enchanting. The concert opens with a selection of delightful arias by Mozart. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY
The programme includes: Gershwin Strike Up the Band Copland Billy the Kid: Suite Gershwin Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture Bernstein Overture: Wonderful Town Barber Adagio for Strings Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue Bernstein Prelude, Fugue and Riffs Gershwin An American in Paris
Mozart Concert Arias Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream (complete incidental music)
MARCH 2013
Thursday 14 March, 7.30pm Thursday Series Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra Shostakovich Symphony No.5
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Stanislaw Skrowaczewski returns to conduct music that simply streams through his veins. The Concerto for Orchestra by his compatriot, the remarkable Polish composer Witold Lutosławski, is a scintillating work that presents its folk music-inspired material in an engaging and accessible style. Debate still rages as to whether Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony is genuinely ‘a Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism’ (as the composer described it after his music had been savaged by the authorities) or a work that encodes subversive political messages. Either way, Skrowaczewski – who knew the composer personally – will underline its status as a towering monument of twentieth-century orchestral writing.
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£3 STUDENT TICKETS
LUTOSLAWSKI SHOSTAKOVICH HAYDN MAHLER BRITTEN BERLIOZ FRANCK WEBER
Saturday 16 March, 7.30pm Pops: Beyond the Rainbow The music of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli The programme includes: The Trolley Song; San Francisco; The Boy Next Door; Thank Heaven for Little Girls; The Man That Got Away; But Not for Me; Get Happy; Somewhere Over the Rainbow; Sing Happy; Losing My Mind; New York, New York; Quiet Love; Some People and Cabaret. Roderick Dunk conductor | Mary Carewe vocalist
Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Sunday 24 March, 7.30pm Opus One Concerts Haydn Symphony No.104, ‘London’ Mahler Symphony No.4
28' 55'
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Ailish Tynan soprano Acclaimed Irish soprano Ailish Tynan joins Sir Mark for Mahler’s inspirational Fourth Symphony. Mahler believed the symphony ‘must be like the world – it must embrace everything’ and here he puts his words into glorious practice. The first movement gestures back to Viennese classicism, the second portrays the dark fiddler of German folklore and the third is a sublime Beethovenian slow movement. Finally comes the wide-eyed innocence of the fourth movement, a child’s vision of the heavenly life with sweets in abundance and bread baked by angels. Our concert opens with ‘Papa’ Haydn’s life-affirming ‘London’ Symphony. The composer’s musical response to the excitement of city life is entertaining, surprising and ever-eloquent. £3
STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY
Sunday 24 March, 3pm Hallé Youth Orchestra, Youth Choir, Youth Training Choir and Children’s Choir Thursday 28 March, 7.30pm Thursday Series Haydn Symphony No.73, ‘La chasse’ Britten Our Hunting Fathers Berlioz The Trojans: Royal Hunt and Storm Franck Le Chasseur maudit Weber Der Freischütz: Overture and Huntsmen’s Chorus
21' 27' 10' 14' 13'
Sir Mark Elder conductor Emma Bell soprano | Hallé Choir Whatever one thinks about hunting, ‘The Sport of Kings’ has inspired great music from many composers through the ages, not least Haydn and Weber. Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Hunter) is a vivid narrative tone poem, a dramatic warning against the evils of hunting on the Sabbath, while the thrill of the chase precedes a raging tempest in Berlioz’s Royal Hunt and Storm. Britten’s pacifism extended to his views on animal welfare. His symphonic song cycle Our Hunting Fathers – a setting of a text devised by W. H. Auden – is a biting critique of man’s inhumanity to beast. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
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MAHLER ˇ JANÁCEK HAYDN BEETHOVEN MENDELSSOHN SAINT-SAËNS BRITTEN SIBELIUS GRIEG
Saturday 13 April, 7.30pm Collection Mahler Songs from ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’ Janáˇcek The Fiddler’s Child Haydn Symphony No.100, ‘Military’
42' 12' 28'
Sir Mark Elder conductor Angelika Kirchschlager mezzo-soprano Jacques Imbrailo baritone Internationally-renowned singers Angelika Kirchschlager and Jacques Imbrailo are the soloists in Mahler’s ‘Des Knaben Wunderhorn’, a highly original and richly contrasted song cycle based on German folk poetry. Charming, humorous, ferocious and deeply touching, these poems and the music Mahler wrote for them inspired much of his work. Lovers of his symphonies will recognise many of the melodies in these colourful settings. A different take on the folk tales and the military resonances of the Austro-Hungarian empire is heard in the works of his near neighbours, Haydn and Janáˇcek, whose ‘The Fiddler’s Child’, inspired by a macabre Czech fairy tale, is a wonderful example of the composer’s unique and very Czech musical language. Finally, Sir Mark and the Hallé and its crack percussion ‘hit squad’ recreate what one of Haydn’s contemporaries described as ‘the hellish roar of war’ in the composer’s enthralling ‘Military’ Symphony. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Wednesday 17, Thursday 18 and Sunday 21 April, 7.30pm Opus One Concerts These concerts celebrate the Royal Philharmonic Society Bicentenary, 1813–2013.
Beethoven Overture: Leonore No.3 Mendelssohn Symphony No.4, ‘Italian’ Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3, ‘Organ’
14’ 30’ 37’
Rory Macdonald conductor | Jonathan Scott organ These concerts begins with one of the four overtures Beethoven composed for his only opera Fidelio. The work contains quotations from the opera itself and powerfully conveys in microcosm its overall progression from darkness to light. And the light of Mendelssohn’s famous ‘Italian’ Symphony is most certainly a warm sunny glow. No wonder the composer told his sister that it was ‘the happiest piece I have yet composed.’ Bursting with energy and optimism, it culminates with a frenzied saltarello. Saint-Saëns’s ‘Organ’ Symphony is one of the grandest orchestral works ever written but is also one with fascinating textures and memorable tunes. Jonathan Scott takes charge of The Bridgewater Hall’s awe-inspiring organ. £3
STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY
Sunday 21 April, 3pm Hallé Youth: A 10th Anniversary Celebration Former and current members and conductors of the Hallé Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir reunite for this anniversary concert.
Thursday 25 April, 7.30pm Thursday Series Britten Movements for a Clarinet Concerto (completed Colin Matthews) Beethoven P rometheus: incidental ballet music Sibelius Symphony No.3
18’ 35’ 29’
Andrew Manze conductor | Lynsey Marsh clarinet After his highly successful Hallé debut last season, Andrew Manze returns to conduct a fascinating and varied programme. Britten’s Clarinet Concerto remained unfinished at his death but thanks to the painstaking reconstructive work of the Hallé’s Composer Emeritus, Colin Matthews, this is a rare chance to hear it. Beethoven was instinctively drawn to the Prometheus myth and the music he composed for a ballet version of the story is some of his most powerful and heroic. Like Beethoven, when Sibelius composed his magnificent Third Symphony he bucked the musical trends of the day. We can be grateful for his courage and originality for this is music that takes the breath away. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Saturday 27 April, 7.30pm Pops: Finlandia Sibelius Overture: Karelia Grieg Piano Concerto Grieg Peer Gynt: excerpts Alfven Midsummer Vigil (Swedish Rhapsody No.1) Sibelius Finlandia Stephen Bell conductor Tom Poster piano
9’ 31’ 22’ 12’ 9’
MAY/JUNE 2013
Saturday 11 May, 7.30pm Collection Stravinsky Petrushka (1947) Mozart Requiem
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34' 55'
Nikolaj Znaider conductor Sarah-Jane Brandon soprano Louise Poole mezzo-soprano Ed Lyon tenor Matthew Brook baritone Hallé Choir Nikolaj Znaider’s second appearance of the season promises to be a particularly special occasion. Stravinsky’s exhilarating, rhythmically-driven ballet score Petrushka comes with carousels, concertinas, dancers and popular songs. It ends with the eerie appearance of the ghost of the puppet Petrushka. No piece of music has been surrounded by as much mystery and intrigue as Mozart’s dark-hued Requiem, a work completed after the composer’s death by his former pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Whatever the truth about its origins and completion, from its opening Introitus to its final Lux aeterna it remains a deeplymoving and rewarding experience. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Wednesday 15, Thursday 16 and Sunday 19 May, 7.30pm Opus One Concerts Fauré Pelléas et Mélisande: Suite Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte Bizet Symphony in C
Thursday 23 May, 7.30pm Thursday Series 17’ 30’ 7’ 28’
Christian Zacharias conductor/piano The exceptional Christian Zacharias makes a welcome return to The Bridgewater Hall in the dual role of conductor and soloist. From the keyboard he performs and directs Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. Dedicated to a mysterious muse figure called Delphina Potocka, it is a passionate work with an exquisite slow movement and a vigorous mazurka finale. Three superb French pieces make up the rest of the programme: Fauré’s touching Pelléas et Mélisande Suite (with its famous and exquisite Sicilienne), Ravel’s elegiac yet elegant Pavane pour une infant défunte and finally Bizet’s Symphony in C, a work bursting with youthful exuberance and sheer joie de vivre. £3 STUDENT TICKETS ON WEDNESDAY
Helen Grime new work Mozart Piano Concerto No.23, K488 Mahler Symphony No.1
10' 25' 52'
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Paul Lewis piano Paul Lewis is internationally recognised as one of the leading pianists of his generation. An acclaimed interpreter of the classical repertoire, here he performs Mozart’s exquisite A major concerto. Although clouds occasionally darken the Mozartian sky, the work is largely a sunny affair, particularly its ebullient finale. The concert begins with a new piece by the Hallé’s Associate Composer Helen Grime, while after the interval Sir Mark conducts Mahler’s First Symphony. This remarkable work begins with bird-calls and distant military fanfares before proceeding via a wonderfully rustic Ländler and an evocation of a Jewish funeral to its inspirational, life-affirming conclusion. £3 STUDENT TICKETS
Saturday 1 June, 7.30pm Pops: Oscars for Orchestra The programme includes: Jurassic Park; New York, New York; As Time Goes By from Casablanca; Come Fly With Me; Titanic Suite; The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers; We Have All The Time In The World from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; A View To A Kill; Abba Symphonica from Mamma Mia! and Ghostbusters. Carl Davis conductor
The season at a glance ... SEPTEMBER 2012 M
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Thursday Series
Pops
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Visit the Hallé at www.halle.co.uk and download our concerts to your diary. Subscribe to the Hallé’s monthly e-newsletter at www.halle.co.uk/sign-up
Artists, programmes and prices are correct at the time of going to print, but we reserve the right to change them if necessary.
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Save money with a Hallé Fixed Subscription We know from your letters and emails that many people think about subscribing to their favourite series of Hallé concerts, but for a variety of reasons, decide against it. Consider some of the benefits that come with a Hallé Fixed Subscription: • Subscriptions save you money • Subscribing protects you against possible price increases later in the season • You can choose the seats that best suit you, and we’ll keep them for you for future seasons • Guaranteed seats for our sold out concerts • You receive priority information about future seasons • Everything is done before the season starts – there’s nothing more to think about – just look forward to your concerts • You can return or swap your tickets if you can’t attend (credit only, Bridgewater Hall fees apply) • You can subscribe and renew online (providing you have registered on The Bridgewater Hall’s website www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk), by post or in person (from Monday 14 May 2012)
BBC RADIO 3: THE BROADCAST PARTNER OF THE HALLÉ
Many of the Hallé’s concerts in the 2012–13 season will feature on ‘Radio 3 Live in Concert’, and is part of the ongoing partnership between the Hallé and the UK’s leading cultural broadcaster. For times and dates of the broadcasts visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio3
Booking information • Box Office 0844 907 9000 • www.halle.co.uk SEATING PLAN FOR THURSDAY SERIES, COLLECTION AND OPUS ONE CONCERTS
SEATING PLAN FOR POPS, CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CONCERTS
INDIVIDUAL TICKET PRICES Thursday Series, Collection and Opus One concerts (including matinees)
£36
£31
£26
£21
£16
£10
Pops concerts
£38
£32
£25
£16.50
–
–
Hallé Christmas and New Year concerts
£40
£33
£25
£17
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–
A
B
C
D
E
F
Family concert Adults £16, Children £10, Family Ticket (four people) £45 Youth Ensembles concerts
£9, £6 concessions, £3 for under 5s/those in full-time education
SUBSCRIPTION TICKET PRICES (Prices are per person)
A
B
C
D
E
F
Thursday Series (12 CONCERTS)
£302.40 £260.40 £218.40 £176.40 £134.40 £84
Disabled person’s subscription
£216
£186
£156
£126
£96
£60
Thursday Series PLUS COLLECTION (17 CONCERTS)
£428.40 £368.90 £309.40 £249.90
£190.40 £119
Disabled person’s subscription
£306
£136
£263.50 £221
£178.50
£85
OPUS ONE CONCERTS (9 CONCERTS) Individuals and groups of up to 9 people
£275.40 £237.15
Groups of 10 to 49 people
£243
Groups of 50+ people
£226.80 £195.30 £163.80 £132.30
£100.80 £63
£162
£72
Disabled person’s subscription
£198.90 £160.65
£209.25 £175.50 £141.75 £139.50 £117
£94.50
£122.40 £76.50 £108
£67.50 £45
Opus One Matinees (4 CONCERTS)
£129.60 £111.60
£93.60
£75.60
£57.60
£36
Disabled person’s subscription
£72
£52
£42
£32
£20
POPS Series (8 CONCERTS) Disabled person’s subscription
£62
£243.20 £204.80 £160
£105.60
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–
£152
£66
–
–
£128
£100
Booking information • Box Office 0844 907 9000 • www.halle.co.uk
£3 STUDENT TICKETS
For just £3 students and those studying in full-time education can hear the Hallé perform extraordinary music in the fantastic surroundings of The Bridgewater Hall. * £3 tickets are available in the stalls for the Hallé’s Thursday Series, Opus One Wednesday concerts and Opus One matinees. The concerts are labelled in this brochure. Additional events may be added throughout the year so to check for full details visit www.halle. co.uk or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For concerts without the £3 ticket deal, students can purchase tickets at 10% off. To purchase tickets, visit www.halle.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0844 907 9000. This offer is subject to availability. You will be asked to show appropriate identification.
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UNDER 26s, STUDENTS, CLAIMANTS AND OVER 60s Anyone under 26, students, and claimants can purchase tickets at 10% off on production of appropriate identification. From two Mondays prior to the performance, Over 60s may purchase any remaining tickets and get a 20% discount. Hallé Day Tickets A limited number of tickets will be available for each concert on the day, priced at £10. They can be booked in person, by phone or online. (Day tickets are not available for Family/Youth Ensemble performances.) Group discounts Discounts of up to 25% are available, depending on the size of your group. Call The Bridgewater Hall’s Group Booking Department directly on 0161 907 9010. DISABLED PATRONS Concessions are available to disabled patrons who are members of The Bridgewater Hall’s Access Scheme. See ‘The Bridgewater Hall’ section of this brochure for full details or visit www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk You may only use one discount per ticket. All tickets are subject to availability.
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Booking information • Box Office 0844 907 9000 • www.halle.co.uk When to book Public booking opens on Monday 14 May 2012. How to book Online at www.halle.co.uk By telephone 0844 907 9000 In person at the Box Office, The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3WS. By post Request a booking form from the Box Office (or download one from www.halle.co.uk) and return via FREEPOST to: Box Office, The Bridgewater Hall, FREEPOST MR10191, Manchester M2 9DW. Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Delta and AMEX are all welcome. The Bridgewater Hall applies a booking fee of £2 per ticket to all transactions with the exception of bookings made in person at the Box Office using cash or debit card and subscriptions. BOX OFFICE OPENING HOURS (as at May 2012) Monday to Saturday 10am–6pm (8pm on concert nights) Sunday (concert nights only) 12pm–8pm. Closed on non-concert Sundays. Flexible Subscriptions Receive discounts on the full ticket price when you book for five or more concerts from The Bridgewater Hall’s 2012–2013 classical seasons – all Hallé concerts are included except Family an Youth ensemble performances. Choose 5 or more concerts and save 15% (available online and through the Box Office); Choose 16 or more concerts and save 25% (available through the Box Office only) Too much to pay in one go? You can pay for your tickets by direct debit in five monthly instalments from 1 September 2012 when you spend £200 or more. Completed Direct Debit mandates must be received by Friday 27 July 2012. (Please note the Box Office cannot accept direct debits on online bookings.) CHOIR SEATS Choir seats are available for most concerts where the Choir is not performing. Contact the Box Office for full details. Please note that we do not recommend the Choir seats for concerts involving singers.
Ticket exchange If you are unable to attend a concert, we will credit your Box Office account with the cost of your tickets, provided they are physically returned to the Box Office at least three working days before the concert date. This credit amount (minus a return fee of £2.20 per ticket) can then be used to purchase tickets for another concert of your choice. Access and DISABLED parking The Bridgewater Hall is fully accessible and welcomes disabled patrons. Individual access requirements can be booked with the Box Office or online with your tickets under ‘special requests’. Information is available in alternative formats. Concessions are available to disabled patrons who are members of The Bridgewater Hall’s Access Scheme which is free to join. By letting us know your access requirements we will, where possible, seat you appropriately. To join the scheme, please request a form from the Box Office on 0844 907 9000 or print off a copy from www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk (see ‘Access’ in the ‘Your Visit’ section). Complete, sign and return the form to the Box Office address. You may make a provisional booking in the meantime, which will be confirmed on receipt of your form. To make a provisional booking and for full details about disabled parking and access information, please contact the Box Office on 0844 907 9000 or email box@ bridgewater-hall.co.uk with your ticketing and access requirements. Please note provisional bookings cannot be made online. Travel Discounts AND CAR PARKING Save money on Metrolink tram tickets by booking your travel along with your concert tickets at the special rate of £3.50 (adult) and £1.50 (child). Check www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk for more details or call the Box Office on 0844 907 9000. A limited number of guaranteed spaces are available to Bridgewater Hall patrons at Park Avenue car park on Lower Mosley Street for £5.50. Spaces must be booked with the Box Office or online at least a week before the concert and are valid from 5.30pm (1pm for weekend matinees) on the date indicated. Patrons can also save money on NCP parking at Manchester Central Car Park, Great Northern Phase 1 & 2 and Oxford Street. Validate your ticket at the Hall for a discounted rate.
The Bridgewater Hall The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3WS www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk The Bridgewater Hall is in the centre of Manchester. Metrolink tram passengers should alight at St Peter’s Square. The nearest bus stops for major routes into the city centre are St Peter’s Square/Portland Street or Deansgate. The nearest rail stations are Deansgate and Oxford Road. Coaches can drop off and pick up outside the main entrance on Lower Mosley Street. The nearest car parks are Park Avenue, NCP Manchester Central, NCP Great Northern or NCP Oxford Street. Remember you can book Park Avenue parking when you buy your concert tickets.
OPENING TIMES The Bridgewater Hall is open from 11am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday, from 5pm on concert nights, and from 12 noon for weekend matinee concerts. Closing times vary and depend on the duration of concerts. THE STALLS CAFÉ BAR AND THE CHARLES HALLÉ RESTAURANT The Stalls Café Bar is open Monday to Friday from 11am to 2.30pm (last orders), and from 5.30pm on concert nights. Main courses are typically from £10.95 and pre-performance dining must be reserved through the Box Office. The Charles Hallé Restaurant is listed in the Good Food Guide 2008. It is open from 5.30pm on concert nights and tables must be reserved through the Box Office. Enjoy the best value for money, quality cuisine in Manchester, with a fixed-price menu du jour: two courses are £21.95 and three courses £27.50, inclusive of coffee and petits fours. Please reserve tables through the Box Office on 0844 907 9000 or online at www.bridgewaterhall.co.uk. Please note a £5 per person deposit is required; this is non-refundable in the event of cancellation with less than three days’ notice. Pre-concert and interval drinks Bars are located on all four levels, serving drinks before the concert and during the interval. Coffee is served in the Stalls and Circle bars. We recommend that you pre-order your interval drinks (this service is available from all bars). The BRIDGEWATER HALL shop Open Monday–Friday from 11am to 3.30pm and from 5.30pm on concert nights.
NCP
NCP
PARK AVENUE
NCP
≼ SPONSORS Principal sponsor Family Concerts sponsor Concert sponsor Education sponsor
Concert and General Sponsors
Major sponsor Pops Series sponsor Concert sponsor Education sponsor
Major sponsor Family Concerts sponsor Concert sponsor Education sponsor
Major sponsor Concert sponsor Education sponsor Training sponsor
OFFICIAL AIRLINE
TECHNOLOGY SPONSOR
Education and ensembles sponsors
The HallĂŠ Concerts Society gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of Arts Council England, Manchester City Council, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities and Musicians Benevolent Fund.