Nordic Celebrations with The Hallé

Rising Norwegian star, Tabita Berglund, conducts the music of two Nordic greats. The first half is devoted to her compatriot Grieg, whose music was once memorably likened by Debussy to “bonbons wrapped in snow”! Grieg’s Lyric Suite is a fine example of his musical nationalism and genius as a melodist. The same applies to his beloved Piano Concerto, tonight performed with the Hallé by Andrew Tyson, an artist described by BBC Radio 3 as “a real poet of the piano”.

Finnish composer Sibelius’s First Symphony owes much to the influence of Tchaikovsky, yet it remains an intensely personal statement. In turn haunting, stormy and passionate, it ends in one of the most stirring ‘big tune’ finales of them all.

Pre-concert talk with BBC Broadcaster Trisha Cooper starts at 6pm.