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"Five Stars ... (an) exceptional collection ... (Witness to a Snow Miracle) is not only one of Simon Holt’s finest achievements to date, but one of the most memorable British orchestral scores of the last 30 years ... both the performance under Nicholas Collon and the recording capture the fierce brilliance of Holt’s sound world exactly. Unreservedly recommended." - The Guardian Nicholas Collon leads the Hallé Orchestra on a programme showcasing multiple award-winning composer Simon Holt's highly narrative orchestral works. His violin concerto Witness to a Snow Miracle, performed here by the prodigiously talented Chloe Hanslip, depicts the story of the life and particularly gruesome death of St. Eulalia of Merida. Holt's other award-winning concerto is a much more upbeat and quirky affair. Written for and performed by one of the world's finest percussionists, Collin Currie, A Table of Noises introduces Holt's taxidermist great uncle Ashworth, a kind of maverick scientist and collector. Currie says the percussion concerto exuberantly tears up the manual on how to approach the medium and he is thrilled with the idiosyncratic, adventurous results. The soloist is seated on a cajon and apart from the xylophone and glockenspiel, all the other instruments are laid out on a table, hence the title.