Review: Hallé Orchestra ****

Last time Sir Mark Elder conducted Mahler’s Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen at Sheffield City Hall, he also ended the concert with Elgar’s First Symphony. This time though, he began by explaining the importance of Britten’s Peter Grimes and consequently the importance of the Four Sea Interludes as stand alone excerpts from the opera, and followed this up with a characteristically intense performance.

Next, Roderick Williams took on the Mahler song cycle; to describe his voice as a light baritone sounds dismissive, but the top register was delightful and ideally suited to the music, and William’s emotional power was echoed by the Hallé.

Sir Mark’s pre-performance chats are always interesting; his introduction to the Elgar seven years ago stressed the importance of the slow movement. This time he talked about the complexity of Elgar’s character and how this is reflected in the music, particularly in the way the opening tune is developed throughout the symphony. A truly first-rate conductor can take an orchestra through the same music time after time and still find new things in it; that was definitely the case on this occasion – was the previous one really in 2004?