{"id":2384,"date":"2011-01-25T22:00:06","date_gmt":"2011-01-25T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=2384"},"modified":"2011-01-31T22:52:14","modified_gmt":"2011-01-31T21:52:14","slug":"mahler-in-manchester-wins-south-bank-sky-arts-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2011\/01\/25\/mahler-in-manchester-wins-south-bank-sky-arts-award\/","title":{"rendered":"“Mahler in Manchester” wins South Bank Sky Arts Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Mahler in Manchester Festival, in which the BBC Philharmonic, the Halle and Manchester Camerata teamed up to present all of the symphonies (including Das Lied von der Erde) of Gustav Mahler at The Bridgewater Hall over six months, has won the South Bank Show Award.<\/p>\n

The 10 numbered symphonies were shared by the Halle and BBC Philharmonic, while the Manchester Camerata performed Das Lied von der Erde in the chamber arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg. The dramatic high-point of the festival was the performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony featuring the combined forces of the Philharmonic and Halle under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. Each work in the cycle was paired with the world-premiere of a newly commissioned work<\/p>\n

My interest in this is of course because Vftp was the official blog of Mahler in Manchester, and quite a project it was. If you haven’t explored the archive of blog posts<\/a> we put together, please do. One can waste many happy hours reading about Mahler- I know I wasted many happy hours writing about him. For my part, thanks to everyone who commented via the blog and privately. There are great tales to be told about all the fascinating and legendary characters who took the time to tell me what they thought of Mahler off-the-record during the series. Most particularly, I want to thank Gianandrea Noseda and Edward Gregson for participating in fascinating interviews, and Peter Davison, whose Expert’s Perspective installments and comments took the series to a different level.<\/p>\n

The official press release follows<\/p>\n

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BBC PHILHARMONIC AND THE HALLE <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

WIN JOINT AWARD FOR MAHLER TRIBUTE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Manchester\u2019<\/strong>s\u00a0symphony orchestras\u00a0honoured for\u00a0Mahler\u2019s Eighth Symphony<\/strong><\/p>\n

Awards to be televised on Sky Arts 1 on Tuesday 25 January at 9pm <\/strong><\/p>\n

The BBC Philharmonic and Hall\u00e9s combined performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony at The\u00a0Bridgewater Hall\u00a0has won a South Bank Sky Arts Award, it was announced at a ceremony in London today.<\/p>\n

The performance of Mahlers Symphony of a Thousand took place at The Bridgewater Hall last May, and saw\u00a0120 players from both orchestras sharing the stage with five choirs including the Hall\u00e9 Choir and the\u00a0City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus\u00a0for a momentous performance of Mahlers Eighth Symphony, conducted by\u00a0Sir Mark Elder.<\/p>\n

The project was one of the highlights of the citys six month long\u00a0Mahler in Manchester <\/em>Festival, in which the\u00a0BBC Philharmonic\u00a0and the Hall\u00e9 joined forces with The Bridgewater Hall and\u00a0Manchester Camerata\u00a0for a city-wide tribute.<\/p>\n

All concerts were broadcast on\u00a0BBC Radio 3, and the Festival received widespread media attention and enthused audiences and commentators alike.<\/p>\n

It is the second time that the Hall\u00e9 and the BBC Philharmonic have shared the South Bank Show Award, which they also received in 2007 (with the RNCM) for their\u00a0Shostakovich and His Heroes<\/em> Festival. Both orchestras have also been previous winners of the award: the BBC Philharmonic in 2006 for their Beethoven cycle, and the Hall\u00e9 (with the CBSO) in 2010 for their Nielsen collaboration.<\/p>\n

The Award was presented to Richard Wigley , General Manager of the BBC Philharmonic and\u00a0Sir Mark Elder, Music Director of the Hall\u00e9 at a lunchtime awards ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel today.<\/p>\n

Says Richard Wigley , General Manager of the BBC Philharmonic:\u00a0Mahler in\u00a0Manchester<\/em> was an incredible team effort, with all partners giving everything to make sure that Manchester s celebration of Mahler was unique in its artistic breadth and imagination.<\/p>\n

John Summers, Chief Executive of the Hall\u00e9 said This is a great honour for Sir Mark and everyone who worked together on Mahler in Manchester . It is part of Manchester s culture that collaboration is the norm, and we are delighted that this has been recognised with the South Bank Sky Arts Award.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0South Bank Sky Arts Awards ceremony will be screened this evening on the\u00a0Sky Arts 1 TV channel at 9pm<\/p>\n

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The Hall\u00e9 Supported by Arts Council England , The City of Manchester , AGMA and Manchester Airport<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

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Notes to Editors:<\/p>\n

Mahler in Manchester <\/em>was a series of 11 concerts which took place from January to June 2010 at The Bridgewater Hall.\u00a0All the concerts were broadcast on BBC Radio 3. <\/span>Each symphony performance was accompanied by a specially commissioned new work in a sequence of world premieres shared between the BBC Philharmonic, the Hall\u00e9 and Manchester Camerata.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The cycle received the official endorsement of the Mahler family through the presence of the composer\u2019s grand-daughter at the performance of the 8th symphony.<\/span><\/p>\n

The series had an official Blog; Kenneth Woods\u2019\u00a0View from the Podium;<\/em> and included a souvenir publication,\u00a0Wrestling with Angels<\/em> by Peter Davison published by The Bridgewater Hall.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

The cycle included a performance of Mahler\u2019s\u00a0Song of the Earth<\/em> by Manchester Camerata who, in collaboration with The Bridgewater Hall, presented a study day on that work called\u00a0Eternal Blue Horizons.<\/em> <\/span>Manchester Camerata and The Bridgewater Hall also collaborated on a large-scale school project\u00a0Songbook of the Earth<\/em> involving hundreds of school children across the whole of the North-West region.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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