Elgar was not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but the Hallé's performance, under Mark Elder, of the lyrical and lovely In the South was life-affirming. The orchestra - which premiered Elgar's composition 98 years ago - produced a typically luxurious treatment, yet even finer fare was to come. Countertenor Michael Chance and lutenist Nigel North presented five Jacobean songs set to Shakespeare texts, and four of these were composed by Robert Johnson (who provided the music for the original productions of The Tempest, Cymbeline, and A Winter's Tale). Both the Hallé and its audience were enraptured during these short songs. Chance's voice is not as youthful as it once was, yet where he used to sound like an angel he now performs like a wise poet. Despite the abundance of younger star countertenors these days, none of them yet match Chance's intelligent delivery and supreme ability to get inside the English language.

The Shakespeare thread continued with actor Samuel West performing Mercutio's Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet, enlivening Elder's subsequent performance of Berlioz's witty Scherzo on the same subject. The climax to this wonderfully inventive programme was a concert version of Walton's music for Olivier's 1944 film of Henry V. Walton's score is magnificent, with brilliant sections such as the quasi-Purcellian flourishes of the Prologue and the dashing heroism of Agincourt. The depiction of Falstaff's death is surely the most evocative musical expression of mourning by an English composer. The narration, enhanced by some lighting, was brilliantly performed by West. Precise contributions from the Hallé Choir and Manchester Boys Choir served to enhance a fabulous experience. At present it seems that each time Elder conducts the Hallé one hears something truly magnificent; this was astonishingly good.