A celebration of Englishness

English Rhapsodies, Halle Orchestra, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

A CELEBRATION of all things English took over the Bridgewater Hall on Saturday, as the Halle Orchestra played a collection of rhapsodies in its latest Pops offering.

This quintessentially English concert explored music from some of the nation’s best-known and best-loved composers, including Oldham’s own William Walton.

And it brought the exceptionally talented virtuoso cellist, Natalie Clein, to Manchester, to dazzle the audience with a wonderful performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor.

It was a treat to see Clein join forces with the Halle under the baton of Neil Thompson, and she was not allowed to leave the stage until she entertained with a delightful short solo encore piece — based on catalan folk song Song of the Birds, which left listeners in no doubt of her mastery of the instrument.

Clein is one of the UK’s favourite cellists, and has an established international career with a number of prestigious prizes under her belt, including the Classical Brit Award for Young British Performer in 2005.

The concert also showcased Vaughan Williams’ Norfolk Rhapsody No 1 and the ballet suite from Holst’s The Perfect Fool.

It brought together the lively dance La Calinda, from the opera Koanga written by Bradford-born Frederick Delius, Butterworth’s Rhapsody for Orchestra from A Shropshire Lad and Walton’s rousing Henry V suite — saved to last to end the concert in suitably British fashion.