This album celebrates a warm and close musical relationship between composer, conductor, and orchestra - and the extraordinary impact the Covid pandemic had on British cultural life. Sir Mark and the Hall� commissioned and premiered the works on this album between 2020 and 2025, with Huw Watkins writing with the specific sound of the Hall� in mind. Symphony No. 2 and Fanfare for the Hall� were born of the pandemic. The symphony was composed during Covid lockdown, and Watkins said this influenced the work's character, with a determination that it should end positively. This is uplifting music, crafted in a symphonic tradition whilst offering a fresh voice and skilful use of instrumental writing. The performance was awarded the South Bank Sky Arts Classical Music Award for 2022. The Fanfare for the Hall� was commissioned by the Hall� to celebrate the return of the orchestra to the concert platform following the first Covid lockdown. Scored for 11 brass instruments, the work moves from a tentative beginning to a confident and defiant conclusion - arguably reflecting much of the national mood during the pandemic. Following almost a quarter of a century as Music Director of the Hall�, Sir Mark premiered Watkins' Concerto for Orchestra in his first concert as Conductor Emeritus. The piece particularly reflects the qualities of the orchestra and it's musicians, and their longstanding relationship with Sir Mark. The work exudes positivity, with rhythmic deftness and highly effective orchestral colourations, displaying the musical strengths of all sections of the orchestra, in writing that is beguiling and joyous.

This release captures the January 2025 concert from Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Rapturously received by the capacity audience and acclaimed by the critics, the Halle's performance of this monumental work marks a significant milestone in Kahchun Wong's tenure as Principal Conductor. Thought of as being the composer's most ambitious search for the meaning of life, the Second Symphony is conceived and delivered on an epic scale, featuring soloists, choir and an enlarged orchestra. The music offers a directness of expression which transports the listener through a series of climaxes and reflections, culminating in a Last Judgement in which the composer said, 'an overwhelming love illuminates our being'. The release is accompanied by a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong, reflecting on what the music of Mahler means to him, and a programme note by Mahler expert, composer David Matthews.

This album celebrates the work of Thomas Ades, one of Britain's 'most imaginative composers' The Guardian, and Artist-in-Residence of the Halle (2023-25). Alongside a survey of his recent works for orchestra are two pieces by composers who have been championed by Ades. Conducted by Thomas Ades, 'one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation' (New York Times) this album features three world premiere recordings, including Ades' Aquifer. Taking it's name from an underground geological structure through which water seeps and flows, the work features orchestral writing which is full of colour and movement, flamboyant climaxes and rich expression. Written during the first Covid lockdown, for an orchestra that had to play socially distanced, Dawn is constructed from a slowly unfolding passacaglia which passes between instruments, depicting the sunrise moving continuously around the world, in music of sonic beauty. Repetition is also at the heart of Shanty, as material is passed between orchestral voices, with hypnotic and captivating results. In contrast, ingenious use of imitation and repetition produce a gripping effect in the invigorating brass fanfare Tower. Premiere recordings of two works closely associated with the Halle complete this album. Leith's Cartoon Sun, described as 'mesmeric' (The Arts Desk), was commissioned by the Halle. The processional piece displays a rich soundscape, coloured with large tolling bells and stunning orchestral climaxes. The Halle and Ades gave the world premiere of William Marsey's Man with Limp Wrist' in 2023. Inspired by a Salman Toor oil painting and with writing which is rooted in historical melody and harmony, the music is full of emotion and expression. Thomas Ades, CBE: internationally acclaimed composer, pianist and conductor whose work has been presented in leading concert halls and opera houses worldwide. Recordings of his works have received numerous international awards and in 2024 Ades received the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal from Sir Simon Rattle, who described him as being an 'outrageously gifted' musician.

Taken from a rapturously received and critically acclaimed performance at The Bridgewater Hall (with The Times' 5* review describing a 'splendid night' and hailing the magnificent sound of the 'blazing Halle) this recording will prove essential for those wishing to hear the work in the intended four movement form. The recording is accompanied by a booklet containing a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong and a note from Dr. John A. Phillips, surveying the material Bruckner left for the Finale and detailing the work done on reconstructing it for performance.

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This album marks the beginning of an innovative journey for the Halle under it's newly appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Kahchun Wong. Internationally acclaimed for his dynamic stage presence and his thoughtful exploration of Eastern and Western artistic legacies, Singaporean-born Kahchun Wong assumes his new role with the Halle in September 2024, following his electrifying debut with the orchestra last season. This recording of the complete The Prince of the Pagodas ballet, the first in over a decade, reflects Wong's interest in Balinese Gamelan and the deep connection he made during his composition studies to the work of Britten. Music which he says, 'resonates deeply inside me'.

Following their acclaimed previous Wagner opera releases, Halle presents the remastered recording of their 2013 Prom performance, recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall. “Working with his orchestra, the Halle, Sir Mark Elder produced an account of this miraculous score which, for a combination of passion and precision, surpassed any other that I have ever heard.” (Michael Tanner, The Spectator, August 2013) Wagner’s last opera, Parsifal, which the composer declared to be his “farewell to the world” has been described as being in many ways the most “total” of all his “total art works.” His spiritual swansong unfurls as a slow-moving, ritualistic drama, and is arguably the best-suited of all his operas to the style of concert staging offered here. This release was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London at the 2013 BBC Proms, featuring dramatic spatial placing of off-stage choruses and musicians. It was audio remastered by Halle’s award-winning engineer Stever Portnoi: the original multitrack recordings of both rehearsals and concert were edited to eliminate audience noise whilst retaining the sense of place and the staged nature of the performance. The edited multitrack was then remixed to achieve a sound in keeping with Halle label releases.

Following recent releases named as Gramophone Editor's Choice, Sunday Times Album of the Week, and MusicWeb Recording of the Month, the Hall� turns to the work of Gustav Mahler. Begun in 1909 in the composer's idyllic Austrian mountain retreat, at a time when Mahler was preoccupied by thoughts of his own mortality, his last completed symphony has been described as his most death-haunted work. Scored for forces that are modest, by Mahlerian standards, this extended work is characterized by it's unusual construction, often soloistic orchestral writing, evocative use of keys, and haunting use of motives and references to traditional Austrian folk dance. A valuable addition to the Hall� canon of great symphonies!

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The music of Ralph Vaughan Williams seems to have found its ideal contemporary interpreters in the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester and conductor Mark Elder. They've released several strong recordings of the symphonies, and they've outdone themselves with this one, featuring the deceptively named Pastoral Symphony: pastoral it may be, but it carries unmistakable overtones, especially in the slow movements, of Vaughan Williams' experiences in World War I. The orchestra manages a consistent somber tone that's remarkable in itself and is introduced by an equally noteworthy Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. This work is played so often by English orchestras that phoned-in performances are common, yet the sensuous pleasure in the neo-Renaissance sonorities here is palpable. At the other end of the familiarity spectrum are the Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus," not variations on a theme but five versions of the same folk tune, collected by the composer and woven together into a unique fantasy. The mood truly lightens only with the finale, the Overture from Vaughan Williams' incidental music to the ancient Greek comedy The Wasps. These are superb performances in which the composer's intentions seem to live anew.

– James Manheim, All Music Guide

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The Halle and Sir Mark Elder follow their previous highly acclaimed DeBussy albums, with a stunning orchestral collection including a world premiere recording. This collection features works from across the composer's career, from his early winning of the Prix de Rome, as a result of which he composed the delicate cantata La Demoiselle elue in 1887. Recorded following the highly acclaimed Proms performance and featuring stand-out soloists Anna Stephany and Sophie Bevan, hailed by reviewers. The enigmatic Nocturnes date from 1897-9 and show the composer at the height of his orchestral powers, in music that is highly evocative of mood and which displays deft instrumental writing. Mastery of instrumental writing is further evidenced in the technically demanding Premiere Rhapsodie, which calls upon the full range of emotions from the soloist; here the Halle's Principal Clarinet, Sergio Castello Lopez. The album features a world premiere recording of Colin Matthew's orchestration of the piano piece Les soirs illumines par l'ardeur du charbon, unknown until it's discovery in 2001. This arrangement follows Matthews' universally acclaimed orchestrations of the DeBussy Preludes.