The Hallé plays Britten, Rachmaninov and Walton, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 13 March 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Ruff

Photo credit: Susanne Diesner

The Hallé plays Britten, Rachmaninov and Walton

Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 13 March 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review byWilliam Ruff

“The Hallé: high drama and razor-sharp playing from conductor, orchestra and soloist.”

This Hallé concert celebrated Benjamin Britten and William Walton, two giants of twentieth century British music, as well as the music of the Russian Sergei Rachmaninov.  You could be forgiven for thinking they were worlds apart; in fact, Rachmaninov was a frequent visitor to this country, especially in the 1920s and 1930s and was a fan of British music.  He even visited Nottingham, so concert-goers at the city’s Albert Hall should be aware that they tread in Rachmaninov’s footsteps every time they visit.

The Hallé chose a particularly dramatic programme on Friday, starting with the Courtly Dances from Britten’s opera Gloriana.  This has gone down in musical history as one of the great first-night disasters.  It was commissioned by Covent Garden to celebrate the coronation of the young Elizabeth II and most of the audience for that Gala event weren’t exactly lovers of challenging, modern opera and  most expected something a bit more celebratory than the story of an ageing Elizabeth I, her tempestuous relationship with the much younger Earl of Essex and her painful, public duty to execute Essex for treason whilst her heart wanted to save him.  Those who arrived at the opera house expecting a slice of Merrie England left feeling very disgruntled indeed.

The Dances occur in the opera just after Elizabeth has chosen Essex to lead a campaign in Ireland.  They dance together and for this formal court occasion Britten wrote a set of dances which sound both ancient and modern: the tunes take us back to Tudor times but Britten’s technique and orchestration leave us in no doubt that we are looking through a very 20th century prism.  Conductor Alpesh Chauhan directed a rhythmically alert performance, capturing the dances’ contrasting characters: for instance, the slow, stately Pavane and the lively Lavolta, considered quite risqué in its day.  The brilliance of the Hallé’s brass and the agility of its woodwind added to the vividness of the performance. 

Next came Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in which Denis Kozhukhin was the soloist.  The ‘Rach 3’ is the largest and most difficult of Rachmaninov’s four concertos, written for the composer’s first concert tour of the USA in 1909.  It begins with the simplest of tunes – but it doesn’t remain simple for long.  The modest opening grows and goes on to unleash music of overwhelming power and energy.  Kozhukhin’s formidable technique is astonishing to watch (especially as he looks every bit the romantic virtuoso) as well as to hear.  However, it wasn’t only when he was hurling notes into the auditorium that he was impressive.  His playing of the slow movement (with gorgeously subtle accompaniment from the Hallé) revealed his more poetic side, while the finale dazzled: torrents of notes leading to one of Rachmaninov’s seemingly never-ending tunes, before ending in a blaze of glory.  Predictably, the audience went wild.

After the interval Alpesh Chauhan conducted the Hallé in Walton’s 1st Symphony, now one of the pillars of the British classical repertoire but famous for its difficult gestation, thanks to the composer’s turbulent love life.  Once again the Hallé had chosen high drama: the powerful, urgent opening movement followed by an unrelenting spiky scherzo (marked ‘with malice’).  The precision of Alpesh Chauhan’s conducting and the razor-sharp response of all sections of his orchestra made for thrilling listening.  This unrelenting onslaught was followed by a slow movement which revealed a landscape of profound introspection and vulnerable sorrow.  As for the finale, it took Walton much time, blood, sweat and tears to write but it’s a wonderful ending, especially when performed as it was by Chauhan and the Hallé, never loosening its grip for a moment and providing an exhilarating, celebratory culmination to Walton’s symphonic psycho-drama and to the entire concert.  The Hallé has never sounded better.

The Hallé

Alpesh Chauhan (conductor), Denis Kozhukhin (piano)