2010 - 2011

6 November 2010 JENKINS / BACH

4 December 2010 MESSIAH

18/22 December 2010 CAROLS

12 March 2011 ALEXANDER NEVSKY

28 May 2011 SOUTHWELL

FUTURE SEASONS

Why not sponsor one of these great concerts or advertise in the concert programme? Click here for details.

Sponsors of Family Carol Concerts John Lewis Partnership, Nottingham

No liability is accepted for any errors contained within these pages. Please check details when booking your tickets.

Comments and suggestions about the content and design are welcome:

Saturday 12th March 2011 7:30pm Royal Concert Hall PROKOFIEV Alexander Nevsky MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Russian Easter Festival Overture Halle Conductor - Cristian Mandeal Susan Bickley Mezzo soprano Nottingham Harmonic Choir This was a Nottingham Classics concert. Review - Nottingham Evening Post Hallé, Royal Concert Hall Saturday 12 March 2011 The Hallé's all-Russian programme on Saturday night was not only a celebration of the musical might of huge combined orchestral and choral forces – but also of the wide array of individual talent on display. So it was good to see conductor Christian Mandeal bringing sections and individuals to their feet at the end to acknowledge the applause of a large and appreciative audience.

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (as orchestrated by Ravel) is one of the most vividly colourful orchestral showpieces. It ends with a bang in its depiction of the majestic Great Gate of Kiev (everyone playing at full steam with bells, gong, bass drum and cymbals to the fore) but also encompasses some intimate solos on the way. The Hallé's principal trumpet, tuba player and saxophonist are just a few of those who shone in a performance that brought each picture vividly to life.

This same attention to colour and atmosphere was evident elsewhere: in Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Festival Overture, for instance, with its powerfully evocative allusions to orthodox chant. But if you want full-powered Technicolor drama you would be hard-pressed to find a Russian work that packs a bigger punch than Prokofiev's cantata Alexander Nevsky. Here the full-throated and intensely committed contribution of the Nottingham Harmonic Choir (never intimidated by the enormous orchestra) was an essential ingredient in a performance that conjured up images that thrilled and moved. Susan Bickley was the soprano soloist, eloquent and moving in her lament for her lost lover.

William Ruff

Children's Ticket vouchers for concerts in November and March and for Messiah are sent out to as many schools as we can in the area. There are also some vouchers available from on Derby Road in Nottingham, if we have missed your school, or you need more than you have been sent.