The Hallé 2019-20 Season

Taking place at the magnificent Bridgewater Hall, the Hallé’s 2019-20 season is a particularly thrilling one. From a brilliant range of symphonies, concertos, vocal works, operas and more, we’ve selected our five top picks in the guide below.

2019 marks Beethoven’s 250^th anniversary, and fittingly the Hallé will perform a number of the composer’s greatest works, shared in a complete cycle with the BBC Philharmonic. We particularly look forward to a multimedia experience of Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony, as part of the Hallé’s latest Beyond the Score® production.

We also look forward to some remarkable symphonies from other composers. In Shostakovich’s Defiant Response, we’ll hear the Russian composer’s covertly defiant Fifth Symphony. We’ll also hear Beethoven’s overture to The Creatures of Prometheus as well as his Piano Concerto No. 1, starring virtuoso pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

The Hallé’s 2019-20 season is not only a busy one for the orchestra, but also for the Hallé Choir and its younger siblings. Bach’s Mass in B minor, described by its first publisher as “the greatest musical work of art of all times and nations”, will shine brightly in the hands of Sir Mark Elder and a star cast of soloists.

Moving onto opera, we’ll have two opportunities to hear a world-class cast perform Puccini’s richly celebrated Madama Butterfly at The Bridgewater Hall. This will star Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura, who established her international reputation in this role as Cio-Cio San (AKA Butterfly).

Finally, we eagerly anticipate the second instalment in the James Bond Concert Series, wherein composer Thomas Newman’s BAFTA-winning original score to Skyfall will be performed live by the Hallé in sync to the picture!

Read about each of these thrilling concerts in our guide below.

Here are our picks