A new generation of international musicians from two of the world’s leading conservatoires perform alongside one another for the first time in a programme inspired by musical life in wartime 1918.

An orchestra of over 90 players from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) performs works by three great European masters – Debussy, Elgar and Wagner – conducted by the German conductor Markus Stenz.

Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra, under Sir Thomas Beecham, performed several all-Wagner concerts throughout the First World War. 100 years on, this compilation from the operatic cycle known as The Ring compresses its finest orchestral music into a fiery spectacle – an extraordinary challenge for even the most talented young musicians.

This concert forms part of Paris-Manchester 1918, a partnership project between the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) that combines performance and research to shed light on the musical life of Paris and Manchester during the First World War.