An Inspired Choice

If you're going to bring in extra brass players for a performance of Janácek's Sinfonietta, you may as well give them something additional to do. So this celebration of the Hallé's ten-year residency at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall (Nottingham, UK, 7 November 2012) began with Decennium, a specially-commissioned curtain-raiser scored solely for those extra instruments, by young British composer Benjamin Ellin. Spread out along the choir stalls, the players made a vivid impact in this brief but effective and well-structured work...