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Schumann & Shostakovich with Schiff
Wed 8 Oct Symphony Hall
High romance and biting sarcasm - the superb Austrian cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff makes a welcome return to the CBSO with a programme of extremes. Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera Suite is the ultimate in musical irony, irresistibly sarcastic, shamelessly sleazy and unforgettably tuneful. In Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto, though, the satire has teeth - it’s a punchy political drama driven by profound emotion. Schiff himself performs the solo part, before taking the podium to conduct Schumann’s noblest symphony - a world of romantic dreams and classical beauty, a million miles from the 20th century.
Heinrich Schiff - conductor / cello City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 28’ Weill: Threepenny Opera - Suite 20’ Schumann: Symphony No. 2 36’
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Brodsky Quartet
Sun 16 Nov Town Hall
Without a doubt, the Brodsky is Britain’s best-known string quartet. With a repertoire stretching from the classics to collaborations with pop artists, this remarkable ensemble is at the very top of its game. The players visit the intimate space of Town Hall with four outright classics of the string quartet repertoire - a masterpiece from Beethoven’s fiery youth, Shostakovich’s most intense and best-known Quartet, Stravinsky’s three ground-breaking miniatures, and the quiet melancholy of Tchaikovsky’s Third and last Quartet. Tickets £5-£20
*Beethoven* Quartet in D Major, op 18, no 3 25’ *Shostakovich* Quartet No 8 in C Minor, op 110 20’ *Stravinsky* Three Pieces for String Quartet 8’ *Tchaikovsky* Quartet No 3 in E Flat Minor, op 30 38’
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Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich
Fri 13 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
The Russian State Philharmonic has the music of their homeland running strong in their blood. And with tonight’s celebrity soloists we can expect the powerful music of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich to come to life in vivid technicolour: the illicit passion of Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini offset by the Mozartian elegance of the Rococo Variations; the brilliance of Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto in stark contrast to the despair and joy of his Sixth Symphony. Tickets £5-£37.50
*Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra* *Valery Poliansky* conductor *Julian Lloyd Webber* cello *Tatyana Polianskaya* piano
*Tchaikovsky* Francesca da Rimini 22’ *Shostakovich* Piano Concerto No 2 20’ *Tchaikovsky* Variations on a Rococo Theme 18’ *Shostakovich* Symphony No 6 33’
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Shostakovich’s Fifth
Sat 6 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
Three composers on a learning curve. Shostakovich’s epic Symphony is a powerful music portrait of a great artist learning the hard way about tyranny. Composed at the height of Stalin’s terror, its triumphant finish is either a bitterly ironic comment on its times, or an heroic victory for freedom. Decide for yourself - either way, it’s a gripping journey. Britten’s ravishing song-cycle finds him at the start of a lifelong love-affair with the human voice - but it’s no less magical for it. And Mahler’s teenage Symphonic Prelude is a real find, packed with all its composer’s trademark drama and angst.
John Storgårds - conductor Barbara Hannigan - soprano City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mahler: Symphonic Prelude 10’ Britten: Les Illuminations 23’ Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 47’
