Sheffield International Concert Season 2025/26 - The Hallé

THE HALLÉ

Kahchun Wong conductor
Truls Mørk cello

SHOSTAKOVICH Festive Overture (7)
ELGAR Cello Concerto (30)
Interval
RACHMANINOV Symphony No.2 (60)

Acclaimed cellist Truls Mørk joins the Hallé’s Principal Conductor, Kahchun Wong, in this emotive opening to the 2025/26 Sheffield International Concert Season.

Truls Mørk will take to the stage to play Elgar’s deeply emotional Cello Concerto, a cornerstone of the instrument’s repertoire and, famously, the composer’s last completed work. Written in the aftermath of World War One, it is a poignant work – never more so than in the heart-rending Adagio third movement – yet, despite this, there are still moments of that recognisable Elgarian nobility as well as hope. It remains amongst the composer’s most celebrated and well-loved works.

In striking contrast, the concerto is framed by Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Rachmaninov’s exuberant Symphony No.2. With its grandiose brass fanfare opening, full of cymbal crashes, the Festive Overture makes for a celebratory start to the season.