Manchester International Festival is a showcase of innovative art which takes over spaces in the city for a few weeks every two years. What we consider to fall under the category of arts and culture is often challenged by groundbreaking and immersive masterpieces.
But the art festival offers variety - and that means doing the more traditional stuff too. Sonic Geography is a prime example of that.
The one-off show at the Bridgewater Hall sees the BBC Philharmonic play new music inspired by the climate crisis. The first piece, a world premiere by Grammy Award-winning composer John Luther Adams, takes the audience on a journey through arctic landscapes.
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Prophecies of Stone puts solo pianist Ralph Van Raat centre-stage for four movements. In the second piece, The Land Grows Weary of its Own, composer and writer Ailís Ní Ríain considers environmental awareness, while the third and final piece, Spell of Creation by Alissa Firsova, explores the interconnectedness of the natural world and features four poems sung by soloist Jess Dandy.
It all sounds great - and the privilege of seeing a full orchestra perform anything live should never be taken for granted. Except, most people probably would not know what the pieces were all about without having read the programme before the performance begins.
While the topic this new music tackles is modern, the way it is presented is far from innovative. Perhaps a visual element or maybe setting it in a place where classical music is rarely performed would give it the cutting edge that this festival has become known for.
That's not to knock the performance which, to a lay person, seemed perfect. But we've come to expect more from Manchester International Festival which has so often succeeded in making ambitious new art work accessible for all since it started in 2007.
To its credit, the atmosphere in the room was slightly less stale than you might expect for a concert of classical music. In that respect, commissioning this work at the beautiful Bridgewater Hall meant bringing in people that might have never stepped foot in it before.
Judged on its own merits, the music is mesmerising - although not as moving as you might expect for pieces about the natural world. But within the context of an arts festival which is associated with breaking boundaries, this event does not stand out in the slightest.
