Our first trip to Hallé St Peter’s was an eye opener. A disused church in Manchester’s now fashionable, former industrial area of Ancoats, this is now home to the city’s Hallé Orchestra and was a great venue to hear Manchester Baroque perform their winter programme.
We used an Uber to get to and from the venue, removing any uncertainties about parking. Once inside, we were treated to versions of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto in B minor and F major. These two pieces formed the ‘bookends’ of the concert, between which we had music by Telemann, Handel, Vivaldi and the less well-known Gottfried Finger - all performed on authentic period instruments.
All the musicians were note-perfect, as always, but the star of the show was the guest recorder player, Iranian-born Yasaman Mashhouri. She was perhaps a little flamboyant for my taste, but her playing was impeccable.
A lovely evening and a venue that I’m sure we’ll return to again.