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It survived two world wars, one terrorist bomb attack and a huge financial crisis to become Britain's longest-established professional symphony orchestra. As the Hallé prepares to celebrate 150 years of classical music in the heart of Manchester, we take a look at some of the orchestra's defining moments.
The Hallé was founded in Manchester by German-born pianist and conductor Charles Hallé in 1858. A refugee from the 1848 revolution in Paris, Hallé went on to conduct the orchestra for 37 years and was made a knight in 1880.
The orchestra's home was then the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street (now the site of the Radisson Edwardian), where it remained until 1996, wowing audiences from Manchester and beyond with its innovative repertoire.
Right from the start the orchestra set itself high standards. At a time when many orchestras were playing more of the same, the Hallé presented a number of important British firsts and was also chosen to perform the world premiere of Elgar's First Symphony in 1908, conducted by the celebrated Hans Richter. The Hungarian-born conductor stayed with the Hallé from 1899 to 1911.
But it was Sir John Barbirolli who led the orchestra to international stature. The London-born conductor was hired in 1943 to rebuild the orchestra after the second world war had destroyed the Free Trade Hall. He stayed with the Hallé for 27 years, bringing it to international prominence with a series of great concerts and recordings - including the first recording and live performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 8.
After Barbirolli's death the orchestra found itself in a downward spiral. Out of touch, out of sorts and out of funds, it faced a very uncertain future. The arrival of the flamboyant Japanese American Kent Nagano failed to reverse the decline.
Nagano was principal conductor of the orchestra from 1992 to 1999. During his tenure, he made some critically acclaimed recordings with the Hallé and received rave reviews for his ambitious and expensive programming, but by this stage the orchestra was bleeding money and could not afford to fulfil his bold artistic dreams. Despite its crowd-pulling brand new home (the Hallé moved into the spectacular Bridgewater Hall in 1996), poor financial management and five years of static public funding contributed to serious financial problems that threatened to bankrupt the orchestra.
By 1998 the Hallé was making headlines for its £1.3 million cash crisis and the nation watched in suspense as the orchestra that played such a unique role in the development of classical music in Britain faced an unceremonious consignment to the history books. But then something extraordinary happened. Hundreds of individual donations and a generous grant from Manchester City Council, combined with some tough fiscal measures from the new management, staved off bankruptcy until the orchestra was rewarded for its struggle with a £3.8 million cheque from the Arts Council of England in 2001.
Current chief executive John Summers is confident he now has the financial trouble under control but he is pushing ahead with fundraising to make sure the rollercoaster ride of the 90s is not repeated.
Under the artistic directorship of Mark Elder, who was appointed in 1999, the programmes have been increasingly challenging, varied and imaginative, while the playing standards are truly world-class.
In 2005, the Hallé was named Britain's top classical ensemble. The Royal Philharmonic Society awards praised the orchestra's revival under Mark Elder as "one of the great success stories of British classical music".
The orchestra is officially celebrating its 150th anniversary next month, and launching a fundraising campaign to support its educational initiatives, recording work and touring. To find out more visit www.halle.co.uk.
An insider's view
As the Hallé's official celebration of its 150th anniversary approaches, chief executive John Summers gives us an insight into the world of a Mancunian cultural institution.
Being Britain's longest-established professional symphony orchestra is a great achievement. To what do you attribute the Hallé's success?
Initially to the huge wave of immigration in the mid 19th century. Lots of particularly German and French Jews came to the thriving industrial city of Manchester, bringing their culture with them, and they created the orchestra here. The support of the business community, and particularly the Jewish community, has been really important for the Hallé right from its birth and that support is still very important today. I think the success of the Hallé has been in having an identification with the city that is unique.
I also think the orchestra, under Mark Elder, has improved hugely and there's a real sense of confidence now. That's partly because of the way they play but also because of the music they play – the repertoire is quite varied and features brand new pieces alongside the classics. This has boosted the popularity of the Hallé.
In the Hallé's 150-year history who were, in your opinion, the people who really pushed the orchestra forward?
Historically, Sir Charles Hallé, of course. It's worth bearing in mind that the Hallé is the only orchestra that we know of in the world that's named after its founder. Another very important figure was Hans Richter. Sir John Barbirolli is the obvious one that everyone remembers very well because he was here a long time. And I also think Mark Elder, who is a great conductor but also someone who has made his home here and really committed himself to the orchestra in every area of its operation. He's recently taken the orchestra into schools in Longsight and he is helping me with a lot of initiatives that are happening away from the concert hall. He's really thrown his whole artistic life into Manchester.
You have been the chief executive since 1999. Could you tell us a couple of the most extraordinary moments you have experienced?
The world premiere of a great piece that we did last year called Alphabicycle by Colin Matthews was one of them. It's a piece that was specially written for the children's choir and we're going to perform it again this year. The great Wagner performances we've done, whole acts from Siegfried by Wagner with a very famous tenor called Ben Heppner. And lots of unusual projects that we've done in Manchester, as well as some great concerts abroad.
The Hallé was still in financial trouble when you took over. How did you bring it back from the brink?
Through very tough measures. People were made redundant, players were cut back. To some regards I was lucky because what Mark [Elder] and I inherited was an organisation that was badly bruised but on its way to recovery. I had to take the organisation through a thing called stabilisation, which was a huge strategic process of planning and injection of funds. That was put in place in 2001 and it has been successful; it has allowed us to invest in things and to focus on improving the quality of our work and the image of the orchestra.
Tell us about the fundraising campaign you've just launched.
This is the second phase of a campaign to raise £1.5 million. We've raised over £800,000 already in a private phase this year and we've just launched the public phase. The money will support the children's choir and lots of educational initiatives, touring and recording – all things that we can't fund with our core resources.
Where would you like the orchestra to be in 150 years?
At the heart of Manchester life, where it's always been. What really encourages me is that we're getting a big increase in take up on children's concerts. Young people get engaged the way they weren't five or ten years ago. It's because the government is putting so much time and effort into music education, which we're centrally involved with.