The sea lies the centre of tonight’s concert from Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé. The sunshine glitters on the waves of Berlioz’s swashbuckling overture Le corsaire, written while the composer was holidaying in Nice.
A celebrated Elgar champion, Elder is joined by British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote for Sea Pictures: Elgar’s only orchestral song-cycle, which ebbs and flows evocatively as it explores the fascination and fear inspired by the sea. While Helen Grime’s Near Midnight explores a nocturnal theme, Beethoven created a storm of human drama in his ‘Eroica’ Symphony – a stirring musical meditation on heroism and valour.
