
Halle
Roderick Williams performs Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.
Roderick Williams performs Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall
Rachmaninov: Isle of the Dead
Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
Shostakovich: Symphony No.15
This concert opens with Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead, his great, mystical tone poem depicting Charon, the ferryman of Greek mythology.
The composition of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder coincided with that of his Sixth Symphony, a work Sir Mark conducted here in October. Featuring tonight, the renowned Roderick Williams, these gentle and intimate songs express sorrow, tenderness, wistfulness and finally, resignation to fate.
Shostakovich likened the first movement of his fifteenth and last symphony to a 'toy shop'. Laden with quotations from his own works, it also includes most famously a bizarre reference to the galop from Rossini's William Tell Overture. As with other works from the last years of his life the music treads a fine line between vitality and disillusion.
Followed by a glimpse into Adopt a Composer - Making Music's scheme pairing composers with performing groups from around the country.
Tonight the Jubilate Ladies Choir works on Ailie Robertson's song-cycle on the theme of womanhood.