| The Hallé | |
| Sir Mark Elder | Conductor |
| Sir Stephen Hough | Piano |
| Ladies of the Hallé Choir | |
| Sophie Bevan | Soprano |
Representing two distinct sides of the French musical personality, Berlioz and Saint-Saëns make an intriguing combination. Our celebration of Berlioz begins with the overture to his much misunderstood opera Benvenuto Cellini, full of revolutionary zeal. Saint-Saëns lavished on his Fifth Piano Concerto all of his carefully-crafted expertise in melody and orchestration. Written during a vogue for exotic musical influences, it combines his melodic gifts with touches of Java and the Mediterranean. Much of Vaughan Williams’s evocative score to the classic 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic was to re-surface in his seventh symphony, premiered by the Hallé almost exactly 66 years ago. It continues to fascinate audiences with its powerful fusion of symphonic precision and haunting atmosphere.
