The Hallé in Nottingham: May 2018

Rossini’s last opera may be rarely performed these days but it’s nevertheless achieved lasting fame through its famous Overture, complete with the ‘Lone Ranger’ gallop. It sets the scene for this Franco-Italian programme, in which the intermezzo from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, provides a tragic interlude between Poulenc’s Gloria and Saint-Saëns’ ‘Organ’ Symphony. Poulenc embodied the disdain for Germanic formality and French impressionism of the group of young composers known as ‘Les Six’, and his Gloria of 1959 is a fine example of his direct style. He mixes Stravinskian angularity with sensuous lyricism to gleeful effect. Saint-Saëns’ most popular symphony has more solemnity, but there are thrills too, as a pair of rapid-firing pianists and a mighty organ raise the roof in the spine-tingling finale.