Article published in Manchester Evening News 14 August 2015

WE’RE now into the summer break for almost all classical music in the north west, so I’m going to take a long look ahead to the autumn season that’s coming – and there are some goodies in store.

The Hallé kick the season off with an Opus One programme, performed three times as usual – on September 17 and 20 (7.30pm) and on September 23 at 2.15pm. Sir Mark Elder conducts, and Sunwook Kim is soloist in Rachmaninov’s third piano concerto. Kim is the young Korean who won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006 at the age of 18, and his previous appearances with the orchestra have been impressive.

Then there’s a Hallé special on October 3: Verdi’s Requiem, with the Hallé Choir and stellar soloists, conducted by Sir Mark. The Hallé has a special claim to this favourite, as Charles Hallé gave the first performance with British forces, in March 1876, less than a year after Verdi himself and a touring troupe introduced it to London.

Sir Mark also conducts the first of the Hallé Thursday series, on October 8, with Mahler’s huge sixth symphony on the bill, alongside Mozart’s sunny A major piano concerto K414 (Christian Zacharias is soloist).

Later events from the Hallé include the UK premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s piano concerto (October 22).

Meanwhile the BBC Philharmonic have a big opener to a season called ‘American Adventure’ (with a variety of associations deriving from that). They’re celebrating Leonard Bernstein, whose death was 25 years ago, and the first concert, conducted by Juanjo Mena on September 19, features Olivier Messiaen’s amazing Turangalîla Symphony – premiered by Bernstein in Boston in 1949 (Koussevitsky commissioned it).

On November 13 there’s Bernstein’s own Jeremiah Symphony, conducted by Yutaka Sado, and November 20 sees a bumper bundle of shorter pieces conducted by John Storgårds, including more Turnage: his Concerto For Drum Set And Orchestra.

Manchester Camerata bring their opener to the Bridgewater Hall on September 26, with guitar soloist Miloš Karadaglić, and for me the standout after that is at the Royal Northern College of Music on November 22, when brilliant pianist Gabriela Montero – a superb improviser – joins up with her old friend Giovanni Guzzo (violin/director).

The flow of international orchestras to the Bridgewater Hall has dried up a little this season, but we do have the Oslo Philharmonic and Michael Sanderling on October 14, and Sol Gambetta plays the Elgar cello concerto.