CHILDREN'S CONCERT REVIEW: Peppa Pig: My First Concert - The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Manchester's Bridgewater Hall - home of the Halle Orchestra - was alive with the sound of music this morning, but from a very different orchestral ensemble; one aimed specifically at 2 - 5 year olds.

The stage was awash with colour, even the music stands for each of the 12 members of the ensemble had been given a bright and cheery make-over. Before the concert started on the stage, two members of the ensemble were walking round the auditorium playing their instruments [violin and viola] and interacting nicely with the youngsters.

Both my nephew and neice are now too old to have any interest at all in Peppa Pig, but even when they were at the target age, I somehow managed to avoid it with them, and so consequently had no prior knowledge of who or what Peppa Pig was all about. I have to admit that when the four pigs walked out on stage [two full body costumes, and two wheeled puppets] I guessed incorrectly as to which Peppa was...! 

Sarah, our compere for the concert, had just the right attitude and demeanor for the children, and somehow managed to engage all the audience.. even those sitting in the circle far, far away from the stage. There was, as you might expect, lots of audience participation and movements to include the children and make the experience more memorable for them. Sarah also introduced the members of the 'orchestra' one by one too, allowing the children to hear the different sounds they all make and how they are all played. It was a little rushed, but children's attention spans being what they are, perhaps that was wise. 

Interspersed with the music, there were a few little set pieces with the pigs, and obviously these were done in character and voice too. Daddy Pig was clumsy and always hungry, going off in search of jam sandwiches; Mummy Pig [the one I had down as being Peppa!], being the more sensible and practicle of them; with young Peppa and George [talking in grunts] being moved and voiced by "unseen" puppeteers dressed in black pushing their pigs in front of them on wheels.  

Musically the 12 members of the Peppa Pig Orchestra [2 violins, viola, cello, bass, harp, timpani, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn] were in great shape, and proved to be consummate musicians making the music they did play (normally played by much larger ensembles), still sound superb. We heard the Peppa Pig Theme (of course!) along with another popular Peppa Pig song, 'The Bing Bong Song'. But the tiny tots also got to listen to Tchaikovsky's 'Russian Dance' from The Nutcracker, Grieg's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', the opening of Beethoven's 6th Symphony, and a little bit of Mozart.... perhaps the most famous tune no-one knew he ever wrote....'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'!

The concert was pitched perfectly for the target audience, and with ballet dancing, stamping feet, creating thunder, and goodness knows what else, the children all had a marvellous first experience of a classical music concert with Peppa Pig and her family. My only thought perhaps is that the running time was about ten minutes too long. The tiny ones seated around me were bored and restless after about 40 minutes. The final 'Mash-up' section reprising all the music could easily have been dispensed with.

What a delightful concert!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 30.7.22