The Hallé, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 27 June 2024.

5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff.

“Nottingham says an emotional farewell to an outstanding conductor.”

Nottingham’s classical music lovers had no intention of allowing Sir Mark Elder to slip away quietly from his last concert in the city as the Hallé’s Music Director. Tickets had sold out weeks ago as everyone knew that his final concert on Thursday would be an occasion to remember. And it was. Huge cheers greeted his first appearance on stage and they only grew during the evening, culminating in a long standing ovation at the end. And there were speeches and gifts, including a splendid framed list all 43 concerts he has conducted in Nottingham since taking up his Hallé position 22 years ago. It was all rather emotional.

Sir Mark chose to begin the evening with a work written by a composer at the very start of his career: Rachmaninov’s 1st Piano Concerto. Although revised much later in his life, this concerto (started when he was still only 17) is full of those heart-tugging, swooning melodies which have endeared him to so many generations of listeners. The soloist on Thursday was Boris Giltburg, an artist who combines dazzling technique, fearsome muscle power and the individuality needed to do justice to the concerto’s ecstatic waywardness. As well as the Technicolor brilliance of the outer movements Giltburg was also memorable in the short central Andante, magical in its improvisatory dreaminess, with gorgeous passagework decorating the deeply nostalgic themes.

After the interval came Mahler’s 5th Symphony. As well as being one of the great orchestral showpieces, it also provided a fitting symbol for the evening. Like many symphonies written at the time, Mahler’s 5th is a journey from dark to light – and is perhaps the most extreme example of them all. Life may be a journey from birth to death, but this symphony travels in the opposite direction, starting with one of the grimmest of orchestral funeral marches and ending with the sunniest optimism and joyfulness. It’s a message for us all and suggests that we haven’t heard the last of Sir Mark.

The Hallé played their hearts out in music which demands virtuosity throughout. Principal trumpeter Gareth Small set the standard in his opening solo, as did first horn Laurence Rogers in the central Scherzo. However, the whole performance was marked by a combination of passion and razor-sharp precision. And the symphony’s journey couldn’t have been clearer: the grief, painful mourning and demonic turbulence of the opening two movements; the whirling dance of the Scherzo; the utter gentleness of the famous Adagietto and eventual triumph of the Finale. It really was something to cheer about.

Sir Mark and the Hallé have been central to the success of the Nottingham Classics series over many years. Every time he has walked onto the stage Sir Mark has engaged the audience, making contact with 2500 pairs of eyes. His introductory words have always been supremely well-judged, as valuable to experts and to newcomers alike. There will never be anyone quite like him – and we shall miss him.

The Hallé

Sir Mark Elder (conductor), Boris Giltburg (piano)