Hallé Orchestra

Hallé Orchestra, British orchestra, based in Manchester. It was founded by the Westphalian pianist Karl Halle, who had taken up residence as a teacher and performer in Manchester in 1848 and was appointed conductor of the Gentlemen's Concerts there in 1849. In 1857 Hallé (who by now had added an acute accent to the last letter of his name to ensure a closer approximation of its pronunciation in Britain) was requested to provide daily concerts during an art exhibition in Manchester. When the exhibition closed he determined not to disband his orchestra and began giving weekly concerts, known as the Hallé Concerts, at his own risk in early 1858. Hallé's concerts were notable for their cheap seats, the adventurousness of the repertoire, and the appearances of the most famous soloists of the day. He conducted the orchestra in the British premieres of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (1879) and La Damnation de Faust (1880).

Following Hallé's death in 1895 Frederic Cowen was appointed temporary conductor before Hans Richter, principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, assumed the conductorship in 1899. Richter's programming was largely of German repertoire, but he also championed the music of Elgar and conducted the premiere of that composer's Symphony no. 1, dedicated to him, in 1908. He brought the music of Sibelius to Britain for the first time (Symphony no. 2 in 1905) and also introduced Bartók's work. In 1911 he was succeeded by another German, Michael Balling. War interrupted Balling's association. A succession of guest conductors was employed until 1920, when the popular Hamilton Harty was appointed conductor. Harty's repertoire included Sibelius, Holst, Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky. He brought Mahler's Symphony no. 9 to Manchester in 1930, and conducted the orchestra's first commercial recordings. However, in 1933 he resigned, and the post was filled only in 1939, by Malcolm Sargent. Involved with many other orchestras, he was largely an absentee conductor, and further problems arose concerned with sharing players with other orchestras like the BBC Northern and Liverpool Philharmonic. To add to the Hallé's misfortunes, its home, the Free Trade Hall, was destroyed during World War II by an enemy bomb.

In 1943, however, the Hallé secured the services of John Barbirolli, so beginning an association that lasted until 1968. Barbirolli's identification with the orchestra was complete, and he built a reputation for flexibility and total commitment, making many memorable recordings. In 1951 the reconstructed Free Trade Hall was opened. On Barbirolli's retirement, the Scottish conductor James Loughran replaced him, introducing a wider repertoire that included much new music. Loughran was succeeded in 1984 by the Polish-born conductor Stanisław Skrowaczewski and in 1992 by the dynamic young American Kent Nagano, who did much to restore the orchestra's lustre to the heights achieved under Barbirolli. In September 1996 the Hallé moved to a new home, the 2,400-seat Bridgewater Hall, and in 2000 Nagano was succeeded by British conductor Mark Elder.