CityLife

Halle Orchestra

Halle Orchestra / Mark Elder
Bridgewater Hall
March 17, 2011

This was a vintage night in the Hallé season, as Sir Mark Elder conducted a programme that was as stimulating as it was varied.

Water music formed the first half, with Britten’s Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes given a vivid exposition, before baritone soloist Roderick Williams joined the orchestra and Hallé Choir for Delius’s Sea Drift.

The evocative power of Sea Drift’s poetry strike home. Much of the excellence of the performance was due to the richness  of Roderick Williams’ singing, and the Hallé Choir. The orchestra played the final pages with idyllic beauty.

The second half of the concert was Berlioz’s Harold En Italie, with Lawrence Power the solo violist.

His playing had nobility and sweetness, and it’s a piece that benefits from lively speeds and attention to detail – Sir Mark brought both. There were many moments of delight, and the brilliance of the orchestration was just what the Hallé revels in. 

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