Page 223 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

regime. There was a point in 1998 when the orchestra was literally two weeks away from
bankruptcy,” recalls Elder. “I said I wasn’t prepared to sign a contract until I knew the finances
were on a sound footing.”

Fortunately, the Hallé, along with most major orchestras in the UK, was rescued by an enlightened
Arts Council of England scheme, by which orchestras’ debts were written off in return for the
presentation of a viable business plan. In the cold light of 2024, as the Arts Council continues its
war on classical music and opera, this seems extraordinary, though the Hallé has been luckier than
many – it received a standstill grant for 2023-26.

“One has to hang on to a belief in excellence, but that seems to be lacking in the Arts Council,” says
Elder. “Surely we have to admit that something that is artistically first-rate deserves funding more
than something that is third-rate, but even that simple principle seems to be controversial. I find it
so desperately sad that we have a government that cannot support the arts, that cannot come out
and say, ‘We believe culture matters’. I suppose it’s because there are no votes in it.”

'You have to be a leader': Mark Elder

Back in 2000, Elder’s vision turned out to be a simple one. “This may sound conceited, but in these
situations when you’re setting out your stall you have to be ambitious. I simply wanted to make the
Hallé the greatest orchestra in the world for British music.” Taking the Hallé back to its roots, to
Elgar and Vaughan Williams, paid off handsomely.

Actually, Elder is not conceited. What he is is a very good raconteur — he once told me a story of a
well-known violinist who, just before going on stage, purred to him: “I like a conductor who can
dominate me.” We meet in the north London house Elder shares with Nancy, his wife of 44 years.
It is packed with memories of a career more than half a century long. On a music stand sits the
huge score of the cantata by James MacMillan, Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia, which he is
preparing for the concerts to mark his farewell from the Hallé in the summer.

It’s quite a journey he has made since starting out as a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral. He
studied music at Cambridge, and then became a protegé of the conductor Edward Downes, who
asked Elder to join him at the Opera House in Sydney as his assistant. In 1979, he was appointed