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Celebrity Piano Recital: Murray Perahia
Sat 31 Jan 2009 Symphony Hall
Murray Perahia is simply one of the greatest living pianists. “The soul of a poet, the mind of a thinker, the hands of a virtuoso; no wonder the audiences love this guy,” wrote one critic recently. As a young man Perahia played chamber music with Rudolf Serkin and Pablo Casals, was befriended by the legendary Vladimir Horowitz, and was Peter Pears’ accompanist. His music-making is marked not only by its depth and maturity but also by its sheer _joie de vivre_ - don’t miss this recital. Tickets £5-£30
*Programme to be announced*
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Family Concert: All Aboard!
Sun 1 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Hop on board as we launch into gear and jet off around the world for an incredible musical journey on planes,trains, automobiles and much more besides. This funpacked afternoon will have you going round the bend and looping the loop, as we thrill and swerve with fast rides and whacky races, and sail on the ocean blue. Be transported by music including Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Villa-Lobos’ Little Train of Caipira, Honegger’s Pacific 231 and more. Don’t miss the boat- buy your return ticket now, and join the CBSO as we go full steam ahead! FREE CREATIVE WORKSHOPS AND MUSIC in the foyers from 1.30pm. Why not come in fancy dress?
Andris Nelsons -conductor Michael Collie - presente
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Celebrating Nielsen: Sinfonia Espansiva
Tue 3 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Nielsen’s music is so fresh and clear that it’s not hard to hear it as musical landscape painting - inspired by the countryside and folklore of his native Denmark. He dubbed his Third Symphony “Expansive”, and it’s easy to hear why; this is simply some of the most radiant music of modern times with an ecstatic slow movement featuring wordless parts for singers. In this final instalment of the CBSO and the Hallé’s joint Nielsen Symphony Cycle, conductor Mark Elder and the Hallé return to pair the Symphony with two more great Scandinavian landscapes - the fire and ice of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Grieg’s much loved Peer Gynt suite; just four of the most irresistible tunes ever written!
Hallé Mark Elder - conductor Nadine Livingston - soprano Alina Pogostkina - violin
Grieg: Peer Gynt - Suite No. 1 13’ Sibelius: Violin Concerto 31’ Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 (Espansiva) 38’
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Dvorák’s New World
Thu 5 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Was there ever a more evocative, nostalgic work than the New World Symphony? Right from the opening bars it is clear that the composer’s thoughts were more of his beloved Bohemia than of the exciting city of New York in which he found himself. Rachmaninov also had his moments of homesickness after he moved to the USA, but the bubbly brilliance of his ever-popular Paganini Rhapsody makes it one of his most extrovert works. Sometimes musicians simply choose to ignore their surroundings: Prokofiev’s equally brilliant first symphony was composed, amazingly, against the stormy background of the Russian Revolution!
Michal Dworzynski - conductor Alexander Kobrin - piano
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (Classical) 15’ Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini 25’ Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) 40’
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Dvorák’s New World
Thu 5 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Was there ever a more evocative, nostalgic work than the New World Symphony? Right from the opening bars it is clear that the composer’s thoughts were more of his beloved Bohemia than of the exciting city of New York in which he found himself. Rachmaninov also had his moments of homesickness after he moved to the USA, but the bubbly brilliance of his ever-popular Paganini Rhapsody makes it one of his most extrovert works. Sometimes musicians simply choose to ignore their surroundings: Prokofiev’s equally brilliant first symphony was composed, amazingly, against the stormy background of the Russian Revolution!
Michal Dworzynski - conductor Alexander Kobrin - piano
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 (Classical) 15’ Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini 25’ Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) 40’
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Friday Night Classics: A Night at the Oscars
Fri 6 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Put the champagne on ice and roll out the red carpet as silver-screen showman Carl Davis hosts this evening of Oscar-winning movie soundtracks. With themes that include The Lord of the Rings, Dr Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Dances with Wolves, Titanic, Robin Hood, The Godfather and much more, join us for a night that celebrates the soundtrack to all our lives.
Carl Davis- conductor
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Bruch's Violin Concerto
Wed 11 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
The latest in a long line of outstanding young conductors to emerge from Finland, Pietari Inkinen makes his Birmingham debut with the youthful First Symphony by his compatriot Sibelius. The passionate sweep of this music ends a programme full of romantic ardour for the week of Valentine’s Day: Bruch’s timeless concerto is played by the CBSO’s leader, and a selection of Mendelssohn’s music for Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy provides a perfect companion.
Pietari Inkinen - conductor Laurence Jackson - violin
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Overture, Scherzo and Wedding March 20’ Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 26’ Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 38’
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Schools Concert: New World Symphony 11.30am and 1.30pm
Fri 13 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Set sail for America with the CBSO, to hear the New World as the Czech Antonín Dvorˇák experienced it in 1893 - full of promise and new sounds. The slow movement of this most popular of symphonies is renowned for featuring on the Hovis advertisement, and today’s performances - devised especially for Key Stage 2 children (years 5 & 6) - make this a perfect introduction to the sights and sounds of symphony orchestra. “I might be able to play as good as you, if I keep practising.” Child at The Planets Schools Concert, February 2008 Special prices apply: £4 per ticket for children and teachers, and home-schooling* children and parents. To book please call Group Bookings on 0800 358 7070. For information on pre-concert support packages and other opportunities available for schools with the CBSO, please contact the CBSO’s Education Department by email (education@cbso.co.uk) or telephone (0121 616 6530). *proof of eligibility, eg registration with your Local Authority, will be required.
Michael Seal - conductor Tommy Pearson - presenter
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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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Transfigured Night
Thu 19 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
The idea of transfiguration loomed large for late romantic artists, and these two masterpieces by Strauss and Schoenberg • although the product of composers who were just 25 years old • seem to sum up a whole lifetime’s experience in music that is among the most luscious ever composed. Schoenberg’s masterpiece for strings tells of a transfigured night in which a couple fall in love all over again. Messiaen’s more explicitly religious world-view provides the perfect complement: in his powerful piece for wind, brass and percussion he expresses his own deeply-held beliefs on the resurrection of the dead. And the concert climaxes with a chance to hear the CBSO and Andris Nelsons • already so admired in Strauss’s music • play the magnificent tone poem Death and Transfiguration.
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht 32’ Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum 26’ Strauss: Tod und Verklärung 24’
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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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Made in America
Tue 24 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Many composers have left Europe to find a new home in the USA, and both in Bartók’s wartime Concerto for Orchestra • composed for the virtuosi of the Boston Symphony Orchestra • and Dvorˇák’s most popular concerto, composed in New York, you can hear elements of each composer’s old world as well as the new. John Adams’ riotous orchestral showpiece seems more authentically American, though it was a by-product of his celebrated opera Nixon in China, and imagines Madam Mao reliving her music-hall past.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Alban Gerhardt - cello
Adams: The Chairman Dances (24 Feb) 12’ Dvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor 40’ Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra 35’
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Made in America
Wed 25 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
Many composers have left Europe to find a new home in the USA, and both in Bartók’s wartime Concerto for Orchestra • composed for the virtuosi of the Boston Symphony Orchestra • and Dvorˇák’s most popular concerto, composed in New York, you can hear elements of each composer’s old world as well as the new. John Adams’ riotous orchestral showpiece seems more authentically American, though it was a by-product of his celebrated opera Nixon in China, and imagines Madam Mao reliving her music-hall past.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Alban Gerhardt - cello
Brahms: Three Hungarian Dances 12’ Dvorák: Cello Concerto in B minor 40’ Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra 35’
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Ultimate Romantics 2: Gurrelieder
Fri 27 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall
In the second of our ‘Ultimate Romantics’ concerts, the high-voltage combination of Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra unleash one of the ultimate and most gorgeous of all romantic experiences. Schoenberg’s lavish _Gurrelieder_ is the epic and upernatural tale of King Waldemar and his love for Tove, resident of castle Gurre. From the sumptuous love music of the opening to the fantastical Wild Hunt of spectres, this thrilling, kaleidoscopic score never lets the listener go. This is the only performance of this unmissable event outside london: we promise that you will love it! *BBC Music magazine’s Editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _"Before Schoenberg experimented with the atonal composing system that has given him a certain reputation among audiences, he wrote several highly romantic, lush works including Gurrelieder. Think Wagner, Mahler and a hint of Bruckner and you get the idea. It’s one of the most OTT works of the 20th century - and wonderful for it!”_ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com *6.15pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£37.50
*Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus* *Philharmonia Voices* *Esa-Pekka Salonen* conductor *Stig Andersen* _Waldemar_ *Anthony Dean Griffey* _Klaus-Narr_ *Soile Isokosk* _Tove_ *Monica Groop* _Waldtaube_ *Barbara Sukowa* speaker
*Schoenberg* Gurrelieder 100’
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Viennese Masters with Mackerras
Wed 4 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
Still leading a vigorous musical life well into his eighties, Sir Charles Mackerras is a living legend, and in tonight’s programme he brings his wealth of experience to three of his favourite composers. Our first contribution to the Haydn bicentenary celebrations comes in the smiling form of one of the composer’s ‘Paris’ symphonies, while a distinguished pianist joins Sir Charles for one of Mozart’s most delectable piano concertos. Beethoven’s energetic Seventh completes a splendidly cheerful programme.
Sir Charles Mackerras- conductor Imogen Cooper - piano
Haydn: Symphony No. 85 (La Reine) 21’ Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 K.482 33’ Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 36’
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Viennese Masters with Mackerras
Sat 7 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
Still leading a vigorous musical life well into his eighties, Sir Charles Mackerras is a living legend, and in tonight’s programme he brings his wealth of experience to three of his favourite composers. Our first contribution to the Haydn bicentenary celebrations comes in the smiling form of one of the composer’s ‘Paris’ symphonies, while a distinguished pianist joins Sir Charles for one of Mozart’s most delectable piano concertos. Beethoven’s energetic Seventh completes a splendidly cheerful programme.
Sir Charles Mackerras- conductor Imogen Cooper - piano
Haydn: Symphony No. 85 (La Reine) 21’ Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 K.482 33’ Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 36’
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The Damnation of Faust
Thu 12 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
A pact with the devil, a chorus of drunken students, unfulfilled love and a final, terrifying ride to the abyss • Berlioz’s most successful dramatic work has it all! Long famous for its Hungarian March and Dance of the Sylphs, tonight’s performance with the full CBSO forces led by an outstanding French conductor provides a welcome opportunity for Birmingham audiences to hear the whole work, and revel in Berlioz’s outlandish imagination.
Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust 125’
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Verdi's Requiem
Fri 20 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
The Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House take up residence at Symphony Hall for two nights, with a glittering line-up of soloists and their Music Director, Antonio Pappano. _“ Everything Pappano conducts has highoctane energy, and that quality radiates off the podium as strongly as it does on it”_ *Daily Telegraph* Verdi’s Requiem is one of the greatest choral masterpieces of all time, and often described as an opera in all but name. Charged with passion, terrifying force, tenderness and consolation, this music comes straight from the composer’s heart. His sumptuous and dramatic choral writing gives us the chance to hear one of the world’s great opera choruses in full voice, in what promises to be a searing performance of this great score. *Classic FM’s Anne-Marie Minhall says of tonight’s recommended concert:* _The first of two performances in Symphony Hall for the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under Antonio Pappano. It’s seven years since the London-born Italian-American conductor became the music director at Covent Garden. Then 42, he was also the youngest to hold the post and since taking over the musical reins, he’s been acclaimed both by the public and critics alike. Pappano even had a premonition he’d be in the top job at Covent Garden as he read the former music director Sir Georg Solti’s autobiography._ *6.15pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£50 _please note there is no interval_
*The Royal Opera Chorus* *The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House* *Antonio Pappano* conductor *Barbara Frittoli* soprano *Olga Borodina* mezzo-soprano *Piotr Beczala* tenor *Ildar Abdrazakov* bass
*Verdi* Requiem 90’
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Britten's War Requiem
Sat 21 Mar 2009 Symphony Hall
The War requiem is one of Britten’s most powerful works, born out of his fiercely held pacifism. Composed at the height of the Cold War, it spoke directly to a nation living under the threat of nuclear war. The work mixes powerful settings of the poems of Wilfred Owen, describing the horrors of war, with the words of the Requiem mass, and ultimately offers the hope of reconciliation. No tenor is more associated with Britten’s music at the moment than Ian Bostridge, heard here alongside the warm baritone of Simon Keenlyside and leading young soprano Emma Bell. *BBC music magazine’s editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _"This unsettling work is a powerful anti-war oratorio, written for the re-consecration of nearby Coventry Cathedral in 1962. Bringing this searing piece to life are three of the most gifted British singers alive today accompanied by Covent Garden’s orchestra - an ensemble currently at the height of its powers. This will be a highly emotional, haunting concert - full of drama and pathos.”_ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com *5.45pm pre-concert talk* Tickets £5-£50
*The Royal Opera Chorus* *The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House* *Antonio Pappano* conductor *Emma Bell* soprano *Ian Bostridge* tenor *Simon Keenlyside* baritone *Tiffin Boys’ Choir*
*Britten* War Requiem 90’
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British Classics
Wed 1 Apr 2009 Symphony Hall
Springtime in England; and what better way to celebrate it than with this delightfully tuneful programme? Some of these pieces are classics, others are the kind of melodies you’re always humming but can’t put a name to; either way, they’ll come up fresh as a daisy under John Wilson’s sparkling baton. A fine British string player joins him for an afternoon of pure melodious pleasure. 1.15pm- Pre Concert Talk- John Wilson’s Light Programme Conductor John Wilson talks to Christopher Morley of The Birmingham Post about this concert of tuneful British rarities.
John Wilson - conductor Lawrence Power - viola
Holst: The Perfect Fool - ballet music 13’ Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring 4’ Walton: Viola Concerto 25’ Sullivan: Overture di Ballo 11’ German: Romeo and Juliet - Nocturne 5’ Farnon: Westminster Waltz 3’ Ketèlbey - Sanctuary of the Heart 4’ Elgar: Chanson de nuit 4’ Coates: The Three Men Suite 15’
