Wednesday 18, Thursday 19 and Sunday 22 October 2006, 7.30pm

Dvorák The Noonday Witch* 14'
Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.2 in D minor 25'
Vaughan Williams Norfolk Rhapsody No.1 10'
Beethoven Symphony No.2 in D 32'

Mark Elder conductor • Rory Macdonald conductor* • Martin Sturfält piano

'A gross monster, a pierced dragon, which will not die, and even in losing its blood, wild with rage, still deals furious blows with its tail ...' Not everyone approved of Beethoven's graceful, genial Second Symphony which merely signalled the new musical direction in which the composer was beginning to travel in 1802. This concert also introduces the Hallé's new Assistant Conductor, Rory Macdonald, to Opus One audiences in The Noonday Witch, brought gleefully to life by Dvorák in his symphonic poem on a gruesome local Bohemian folk ballad. Martin Sturfält, recipient of the Terence Judd Award, displays his athletic virtuosity in a rare performance of Mendelssohn's Second Piano Concerto. Mendelssohn, described by Shaw as the epitome of 'kid-glove gentility', was also acclaimed for his effortless genius as 'the Mozart of the 19th-century'.

Wednesday 18 October - BUY ONLINE
Thursday 19 October - BUY ONLINE
Sunday 22 October - BUY ONLINE

Part of Listen Up! 2006