Hallé: Huw Watkins album review – Covid-era commissions capture energy and hope after lockdown

2026-03-06 - 10:53

(Hallé) Hallé/Elder Watkins’s symphony, fanfare and concerto make for a spirited showcase of the orchestra’s clean harmonies This recording is a celebration of what a fruitful relationship between a composer and an orchestra can be, as well as a souvenir of uneasy times. The Hallé co-commissioned Huw Watkins’ second symphony, having premiered his first; it was written amid Covid lockdowns and recorded for a filmed concert in spring 2021. Concurrently, Watkins wrote Fanfare for the Hallé, which in November 2020 was one of the first works played and recorded in the Bridgewater Hall after nine months of silence. These energised performances, with Mark Elder conducting, are a tribute to the musicians’ resilience. In the symphony, tiny woodwind tendrils unfurl and curl around one another, creating a feeling of irresistible growth and motion, and turning into cartwheeling cascades. The slow movement has the feeling of a nocturne: gauzy, muted textures with glints of light, framing music of high agitation. Continue reading...