BARBIROLLI
BRIDGEWATER HALL
written by: MICHAEL KENNEDY
animated by: TIMOTHY WEST
with support from: THE BRIDGEWATER HALL
"I think Talking Statues is a brilliant idea: an opportunity to link a face to a voice, without having to search for it on film. John Barbirolli was for many years the voice of Music in a very musical city.”
Timothy West
Sir John Barbirolli was a British cellist and conductor of the Hallé orchestra.
Sir John arrived in Manchester in 1943. He had a month to assemble and train an orchestra of 70 players who were required to follow a punishing schedule of concerts - 258 between 1944-45. In short, Barbirolli helped save the orchestra from dissolution and brought it to new heights.