Latest news with #HalléOrchestra
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Adès, Leith, Marsey: Orchestral Works album review – an impressive collection marks a productive association
Since 2023 Thomas Adès has been artist-in-residence with the Hallé Orchestra. He has featured as composer, conductor and pianist in his appearances with the orchestra, and all his concerts have included new or nearly new works, both his own and by composers he admires. As the residency comes to an end, this collection brings together pieces he has conducted in Manchester; there are four by Adès himself, alongside William Marsey's Man With Limp Wrist and Oliver Leith's Cartoon Sun. Of the four pieces by Adès, only one is substantial. Aquifer, which he wrote last year for Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, is a densely packed 17-minute movement, which contains enough ideas to power a symphony at least twice as long, before being brought to a halt by the most common-or-garden of cadences. Tower – for Frank Gehry is a fanfare, and both Shanty and Dawn, composed during lockdown in 2020, are pieces that work wonders with repeated phrases. Marsey's musical narrative, in eight 'scenes', is a strangely evocative succession of musical ghosts, inspired by paintings by Salman Toor, while Leith's wacky processional, punctuated by enormous climaxes, leaves an exhilarating impression. It's altogether an impressive disc, a fine record of a productive association, though it's a shame there was no room on it for the exceptional performance of his own Tevot that Adès conducted in Bridgewater Hall too. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Listen on Apple Music (above) or Spotify
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Adès, Leith, Marsey: Orchestral Works album review – an impressive collection marks a productive association
Since 2023 Thomas Adès has been artist-in-residence with the Hallé Orchestra. He has featured as composer, conductor and pianist in his appearances with the orchestra, and all his concerts have included new or nearly new works, both his own and by composers he admires. As the residency comes to an end, this collection brings together pieces he has conducted in Manchester; there are four by Adès himself, alongside William Marsey's Man With Limp Wrist and Oliver Leith's Cartoon Sun. Of the four pieces by Adès, only one is substantial. Aquifer, which he wrote last year for Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, is a densely packed 17-minute movement, which contains enough ideas to power a symphony at least twice as long, before being brought to a halt by the most common-or-garden of cadences. Tower – for Frank Gehry is a fanfare, and both Shanty and Dawn, composed during lockdown in 2020, are pieces that work wonders with repeated phrases. Marsey's musical narrative, in eight 'scenes', is a strangely evocative succession of musical ghosts, inspired by paintings by Salman Toor, while Leith's wacky processional, punctuated by enormous climaxes, leaves an exhilarating impression. It's altogether an impressive disc, a fine record of a productive association, though it's a shame there was no room on it for the exceptional performance of his own Tevot that Adès conducted in Bridgewater Hall too. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Listen on Apple Music (above) or Spotify
The Guardian
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Diana Ross review – glittering Motown royalty still sounds supreme
Diana Ross's show tonight opens with two career retrospectives. The first, a lengthy video segment, includes footage throughout the decades, from Motown to the modern day. The second is far grander. As the house lights go down, the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra, as well as Ross's band, launch into an instrumental medley of her biggest hits. There's a rambunctious brass and woodwind section, the glorious swell of strings and four enthusiastic backup singers side-stepping to the music. Then, the woman herself, shuffling on to the stage in a glittering dress as she launches into I'm Coming Out. The opening of this show is relentless: Ross may be 81, but she barely gives herself or the audience time to catch their breath as she blasts through Baby Love, You Can't Hurry Love, Come See About Me and Stop! In the Name of Love. 'More excitement,' she says between songs. 'Here we go!' Another less qualified performer may have found themselves dwarfed by the number of musicians on stage, but even with some off-kilter sound levels, Ross more than holds her own. Her voice, while perhaps not as pristine as it once was, is still strong, and for the m ost part she sounds fantastic, even if she leaves the final key change of Chain Reaction, which is given a lively arrangement by the orchestra, in the hands of her backup singers. Her voice shines during her rendition of Billie Holiday's Good Morning Heartache, the delicacy of her performance seeming to shrink the arena into something far more intimate. You might think that things would dip during the section focused on Ross's 2021 album Thank You, but these songs are each cut back. Before too long she's back with the hits: Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To) seamlessly transitions into Ain't No Mountain High Enough, a two-hander so euphoric it should be the finale. Instead, Ross ends with an extended version of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive and an encore of Thank You, a conclusion that's not as explosive as this lively show deserves, but nonetheless feels fitting. After all, it's easy to feel grateful that Diana Ross is still so good.
