Halle launches new season

The concert begins with Lewis playing Brahms’s stormy First Piano Concerto and is followed by Wagner’s overture to The Flying Dutchman and Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony.

After a break of ten years, Paul Lewis makes his return to the Royal Concert Hall in dramatic fashion with Brahms’s turbulent first piano concerto, which he has plans to record in the near future.

Lewis is known internationally for his playing of German romantic repertoire with Harriet Smith in Gramophone saying of his recordings of Schubert’s late piano works, “Time and again you marvel at the confidence and sureness of Lewis’s playing, combined with the finesse and musicality that he has always displayed”.

The tempestuous theme of Brahms continues with Wagner’s Flying Dutchman Overture.

Sir Mark Elder enjoys international acclaim as a conductor of Wagner and is equally accomplished with Sibelius.

This concert finishes with perhaps Sibelius’ greatest Symphony, the Fifth, noted for its concentrated energy and the famous swan-motif of the finale.

The concert begins at 7.30pm. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Tickets are £10-£32.50 and are available for the box office on 0115 989 5555 or online at www.trch.co.uk

The Halle will also be performing at the venue on Monday, November 24, from 7.30pm.

The programme will feature Dvorak’s Carnival Overture, and Bartok’s Concerto For Orchestra.