The Hallé
Sir Mark Elder conductor | Stéphane Rancourt oboe
In 2014, the Hallé’s principal oboist Stéphane Rancourt wowed us with the world premiere of John Casken’s Apollinaire’s Bird. The concerto (which has been short-listed for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award) was such a success with audiences, Sir Mark wanted to repeat the performance as soon as possible. It takes as its inspiration a poem Apollinaire wrote while fighting in the trenches during the First World War.
We also hear two fascinating Elgar works composed during that same conflict. When Vaughan Williams’s Fourth Symphony was premiered in 1935, the work seemed to presage the coming of another war. It is a symphony of extraordinary, almost apocalyptic power that never fails to make a massive impression.
