The Hallé – Magnificat at The Bridgewater Hall

Ryan Wigglesworth Magnificat World Premiere
Mahler Symphony No.4

Ryan Wigglesworth conductor
Sophie Bevan soprano
Hallé Choir choral director Matthew Hamilton

Multi-talented as composer, conductor and pianist, Ryan Wigglesworth is well-known as a former Hallé Principal Guest Conductor and Associate Artist, who has become Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony 0rchestra this season. The concert’s first half comprises the UK premiere of a Hallé/Bergen Philharmonic co-commission, Wigglesworth’s setting of the Magnificat, in which the Hallé Choir are joined by leading lyric soprano Sophie Bevan. Intriguingly, Wigglesworth regards the text as ‘a song of praise and thanksgiving’, but also Mary’s ‘personal manifesto’. It’s the spirit of the German folk poems, Das Knaben Wunderhorn (The boy’s magic horn) that pervades Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. It’s famous for its Scherzo, an eerie ‘Dance of Death’ and finale, in which Bevan’s ‘compelling … rich and powerful voice’ (Glasgow Herald) will embody a child’s vision of heaven.