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Puccini’s 150th: La Bohème
Thu 23 Oct Symphony Hall
Already acclaimed the world over for his opera performances, Music Director Andris Nelsons celebrates Puccini’s 150th birthday this autumn with concert performances of the passionate love story that has become the best-loved of all the composer’s operas. Set among the penniless students of Paris’s Bohemian Quarter, this tender tale of the seamstress Mimi and aspiring poet Rodolfo is one of the great operatic tearjerkers, and inspired, among other things, the musical Rent and the movie Moulin Rouge. A terrific young cast joins the CBSO and Choruses for what will surely be one of the must-see events in Birmingham this year.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Kristine Opolais - Mimì Erin Wall - Musetta Pavel Cernoch - Rodolfo Markus Brück - Marcello Kostas Smoriginas - Schaunard City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus
Puccini: La Bohème 105’
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Puccini’s 150th: La Bohème
Sat 25 Oct Symphony Hall
Already acclaimed the world over for his opera performances, Music Director Andris Nelsons celebrates Puccini’s 150th birthday this autumn with concert performances of the passionate love story that has become the best-loved of all the composer’s operas. Set among the penniless students of Paris’s Bohemian Quarter, this tender tale of the seamstress Mimi and aspiring poet Rodolfo is one of the great operatic tearjerkers, and inspired, among other things, the musical Rent and the movie Moulin Rouge. A terrific young cast joins the CBSO and Choruses for what will surely be one of the must-see events in Birmingham this year.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Kristine Opolais - Mimì Erin Wall - Musetta Pavel Cernoch - Rodolfo Markus Brück - Marcello Kostas Smoriginas - Schaunard City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus
Puccini: La Bohème 105’
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Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
Wed 29 Oct Symphony Hall
Bruckner’s majestic, spiritually uplifting symphonies are perfectly suited to the grand open spaces of Symphony Hall’s world-famous acoustics, and there are few symphonies grander than Bruckner’s Sixth, premiered by none other than Gustav Mahler (whose own Sixth Symphony will be heard in June). Mendelssohn’s effervescent concerto is on a far more modest scale, but its soaring melodies have assured it a firm place in the repertoire for more than a century and a half. It’s played tonight by the 2002 BBC Young Musician of the Year. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - Bruckner’s Sixth Stephen Johnson, broadcaster and author of Bruckner Remembered talks about this great late-Romantic symphony.
James Gaffigan - conductor Jennifer Pike - violin
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro - Overture 4’ Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto 27’ Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 54’
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CBSO Youth Orchestra
Fri 31 Oct Symphony Hall
Even by Mahler’s own standards, his Seventh Symphony is extraordinary. He called it a “song of the night”, though it ends in roof-raising jubilation. But first comes a fantastic journey through a world of dreams, nightmares, moonlit lovesongs and romance. It’s a whole new musical world - so who better to play it than our renowned Youth Orchestra, under the brilliant Dutch maestro Jac van Steen? If you heard the CBSO Youth Orchestra’s stunning performances of Nielsen and Bartók last season, you’ll know to expect an unforgettable evening as our superb young players tackle their most challenging programme yet. bq.These committed and gifted youngsters produced performances which would put many professional bodies to shame, with crisp articulation, impressively accurate intonation, but, above all, a depth of tone and confidence of phrasing which really denotes an ensemble of the highest class.bq. Musical Opinion
Jac van Steen - conductor
Mahler: Symphony No. 7 80’
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Elgar’s Cello Concerto
Tue 4 Nov Symphony Hall
Composed during the blitz and premiered at the 1943 Proms, Vaughan Williams’ serene Fifth Symphony seems like a retreat from the real world to an imagined paradise. Elgar’s equally lyrical Cello Concerto, composed in 1919, also feels like a reaction against the horrors of wartime. Vernon Handley, such a tireless champion of English music, precedes these two masterpieces with a musical fairytale by Granville Bantock, who did so much for Birmingham’s musical life and was instrumental in the founding of the CBSO in 1920. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Baz Chapman - Programme Director of Sing Up - shares his enthusiasm for Vaughan Williams’ great wartime symphony.
Vernon Handley - conductor Anne Gastinel - cello
Bantock: The Witch of Atlas 15’ Elgar: Cello Concerto 26’ Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 42’
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Elgar’s Cello Concerto
Wed 5 Nov Symphony Hall
Composed during the blitz and premiered at the 1943 Proms, Vaughan Williams’ serene Fifth Symphony seems like a retreat from the real world to an imagined paradise. Elgar’s equally lyrical Cello Concerto, composed in 1919, also feels like a reaction against the horrors of wartime. Vernon Handley, such a tireless champion of English music, precedes these two masterpieces with a musical fairytale by Granville Bantock, who did so much for Birmingham’s musical life and was instrumental in the founding of the CBSO in 1920. 1.15pm Pre-concert talk - Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Baz Chapman - Programme Director of Sing Up - shares his enthusiasm for Vaughan Williams’ great wartime symphony.
Vernon Handley - conductor Anne Gastinel - cello
Bantock: The Witch of Atlas 15’ Elgar: Cello Concerto 26’ Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5 42’
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Notelets Noël Notelets
Sun 7 Dec Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Noël Notelets - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families. ’Tis the season to be jolly, with festive music and children’s Christmas songs.
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Notelets Noël Notelets
Sun 7 Dec Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Noël Notelets - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families. ’Tis the season to be jolly, with festive music and children’s Christmas songs.
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A Christmas Carol
Sat 20 Dec Symphony Hall
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the CBSO’s celebrations, hosted this year by presenter Carol Smillie and featuring the CBSO and its massed choirs. Packed with festive music and your favourite carols, plus stories, readings and plenty of audience participation, these concerts are the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas holidays and put you in the festive spirit.
Simon Halsey - conductor Carol Smillie - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus City of Birmingham Young Voices
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A Christmas Carol
Sun 21 Dec Symphony Hall
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the CBSO’s celebrations, hosted this year by presenter Carol Smillie and featuring the CBSO and its massed choirs. Packed with festive music and your favourite carols, plus stories, readings and plenty of audience participation, these concerts are the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas holidays and put you in the festive spirit.
Simon Halsey - conductor Carol Smillie - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus City of Birmingham Young Voices
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A Christmas Carol
Sun 21 Dec Symphony Hall
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the CBSO’s celebrations, hosted this year by presenter Carol Smillie and featuring the CBSO and its massed choirs. Packed with festive music and your favourite carols, plus stories, readings and plenty of audience participation, these concerts are the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas holidays and put you in the festive spirit.
Simon Halsey - conductor Carol Smillie - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus City of Birmingham Young Voices
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A Christmas Carol
Mon 22 Dec Symphony Hall
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the CBSO’s celebrations, hosted this year by presenter Carol Smillie and featuring the CBSO and its massed choirs. Packed with festive music and your favourite carols, plus stories, readings and plenty of audience participation, these concerts are the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas holidays and put you in the festive spirit.
Simon Halsey - conductor Carol Smillie - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus City of Birmingham Young Voices
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A Christmas Carol
Mon 22 Dec Symphony Hall
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the CBSO’s celebrations, hosted this year by presenter Carol Smillie and featuring the CBSO and its massed choirs. Packed with festive music and your favourite carols, plus stories, readings and plenty of audience participation, these concerts are the perfect way to kick-start your Christmas holidays and put you in the festive spirit.
Simon Halsey - conductor Carol Smillie - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus City of Birmingham Young Voices
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Friday Night Classics: The Gershwins in Hollywood
Fri 23 Jan 2009 Symphony Hall
No-one wrote a hit-tune like George and Ira Gershwin. And when the brothers left Manhattan for the bright lights of Hollywood, the results were bound to be showstopping! Conductor John Wilson loves the great movie musicals of the 1930s; join him and star West End vocalists Kim Criswell and Gary Williams for an evening of pure jazz-age glamour. Featuring I Got Rhythm, ’Swonderful, The Man I Love, An American in Paris, Strike Up The Band, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, They All Laughed and many more, it’s just hit after hit after hit!
John Wilson - conductor Kim Criswell - vocalist Gary Williams - vocalist
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Notelets Action Stations!
Sat 7 Feb 2009 Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Action Stations! - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families. Come and get active with action songs and music to make you move, for all those fidgety feet!
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CBSO Youth Orchestra
Sun 22 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Andris Nelsons demonstrates his commitment to Birmingham’s young musicians in this, his debut appearance with the CBSO’s acclaimed Youth Orchestra. And it’s all about colour. Whether in the gorgeous oriental fantasies of Ravel’s impressionist song-cycle Shéhérazade, the brilliant sunrise that opens his Daphnis and Chloé suite or the glittering Russian jewel-box of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, this is a programme to dazzle the ears. Expect our superb young players to give it their all, as Andris Nelsons celebrates the start of what we hope will be a very special relationship.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Christine Rice - mezzo-soprano
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No. 2 16’ Ravel: Shéhérazade 19’ Mussorgsky (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition 30’
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Notelets Fairytales
Sun 29 Mar 2009 Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Fairytales - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families at CBSO Centre
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Singalong with the CBSO: Mozart's Requiem
Sun 5 Apr 2009 Symphony Hall
Join the CBSO with its world-renowned chorus director, Simon Halsey, and young professional soloists to sing Mozart’s Requiem, which he was famously still working upon at his untimely death. If you enjoy singing, the unique experience of performing such a powerful work in Birmingham’s magnificent Symphony Hall, with over 1000 singers, is surely not to be missed.
Simon Halsey - conductor
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Notelets Beasts, Bugs & Butterflies!
Sun 17 May 2009 Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Beasts, Bugs & Butterflies! - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families. Meet our musical selection of weird and wonderful creatures and creepy-crawlies.
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Notelets Beasts, Bugs & Butterflies!
Sun 17 May 2009 Book through our ticket office for CBSO Centre
Beasts, Bugs & Butterflies! - a mini concert for 3-5 year olds and their families. Meet our musical selection of weird and wonderful creatures and creepy-crawlies.
