The Hallé in Nottingham: October 2022

It’s twenty years since the Hallé became the Resident Orchestra for Nottingham Classics and, led by Sir Mark Elder, it’s played a vital role in our concert series. This performance celebrates the Hallé’s success, with two timeless audience favourites and a spectacular orchestral showpiece.

The most popular of the tone poems in Smetana’s Symphonic Suite, Ma Vlast, Vltava follows the scenic course of the river that flows through Prague, from the twirling flutes at its source to its joyfully brassy meeting with the river Elbe. Its sublime melody is matched by the thrilling big tunes of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. Composed in 1909 for the composer’s tour of America, it still tests the mettle of every soloist with its virtuosic extremes, not least in its pyrotechnic finale.

Not known for being self-effacing, Richard Strauss once said that ‘I do not see why I should not compose a symphony about myself…I find myself as interesting as Napoleon or Alexander.’ Whatever its inspiration – egoism or self-parody – Strauss’s dramatic exploration of heroism remains one of his most ambitious and electrifying achievements, played out on a vast soundstage with an appropriately supersized orchestra.

Free pre-concert talk, 6.20pm in the auditorium:
Sir Mark Elder in conversation.