What's On — CBSO events

• 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’
  

• Birmingham’s Brightest  

  Sat 11 Oct Symphony Hall

  Everyone knows that Birmingham has the brightest and most vibrant youth music scene in the UK; hear why in this jam-packed gala concert! Feel the sheer visceral thrill of the famous Birmingham Schools’ Azaad Dhol Ensemble, before the acclaimed CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy makes its Symphony Hall debut in Ligeti’s flamboyant Concert Romanesc. Two show-stopping young choirs raise the roof before the CBSO proper takes the stage alongside one of Britain’s best-loved young soloists • teenager clarinettist Julian Bliss • in Malcolm Arnold’s irresistibly jazzy concerto. Throw in a couple of John Williams’ blockbuster movie soundtracks including music from Star Wars, with the CBSO, and you’ve got a concert that celebrates both the young - and the young at heart! This concert coincides with the National Association of Music Educators Conference at the ICC.
  Michael Seal - conductor Tommy Pearson - presenter Julian Bliss - clarinet CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy City of Birmingham Young Voices Birmingham Schools’ Azaad Dhol Ensemble Sing For All Massed Choir
  
  

• 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Puccini: La Bohème 105’
  

• 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Puccini: La Bohème 105’
  

• CBSO - La Boheme  

  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 the passionate Parisian love story that has become the best-loved of all the composer’s operas. A terrific young cast joins the CBSO and Choruses for what will surely be one of the must-see events in Birmingham this year. £9.50, £13.50, £17, £20.50, £23.50, £28, £32, £37, £39.50
  *Distinguished Cast* *City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra* *City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Youth Chorus* *Andris Nelsons* Conductor
  *Puccini* La Bohème 105’
  

• 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. 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro - Overture 4’ Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto 27’ Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 54’
  

• 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’
  

• 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. *We have received the very sad news that the conductor, Vernon Handley, died on 10 September aged 77. We will be looking for another conductor for this concert, and will announce the change shortly. We are dedicating this concert in memory of Vernon Handley. *
  City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Anne Gastinel - cello
  *Bantock* The Witch of Atlas 15’ *Elgar* Cello Concerto 26’ *Vaughan Williams* Symphony No. 5 42’
  

• 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. *We have received the very sad news that the conductor, Vernon Handley, died on 10 September aged 77. We will be looking for another conductor for this concert, and will announce the change shortly. We are dedicating this concert in memory of Vernon Handley.*
  Anne Gastinel - cello City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  *Bantock* The Witch of Atlas 15’ *Elga*: Cello Concerto 26’ *Vaughan Williams* Symphony No. 5 42’
  

• Romeo and Juliet  

  Thu 13 Nov Symphony Hall

  Popular CBSO guest Andrew Litton returns with a colourful programme featuring two brilliant musical responses to Shakespeare: Walton’s score for Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film of Henry V, together with highlights from Prokofiev’s ever-popular ballet (currently featured as the music for the BBC series _The Apprentice_) premiered six years earlier. Barber’s gloriously lyrical Violin Concerto, composed between these two works, receives its first-ever CBSO performance, played by a dazzling American soloist.
  Andrew Litton - conductor Anne Akiko Meyers - violin City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Walton: Henry V - Suite 15’ Barber: Violin Concerto 25’ Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (highlights) 50’
  

• CBSO Romeo and Juliet  

  Thu 13 Nov Symphony Hall

  *Walton* Henry V • Suite 15’ *Barber* Violin Concerto 25’ *Prokofiev* Romeo and Juliet (highlights) 50’ Popular CBSO guest Andrew Litton returns with a colourful programme featuring two brilliant musical responses to Shakespeare: Walton’s score for Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film of Henry V, together with highlights from Prokofiev’s ever-popular ballet. Barber’s gloriously lyrical violin concerto receives its first ever CBSO performance, played by a dazzling American soloist. £9.50, £13.50, £17, £20.50, £23.50, £28, £32, £37, £39.50
  City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra *Andrew Litton* Conductor *Anne Akiko Meyers* Violin
  
  

• Beethoven's Missa Solemnis  

  Sat 15 Nov Symphony Hall

  There is no genuine choral possibility undeveloped in the Mass. Beethoven imagines everything humanly possible - and then adds more! Join us as we scale the majestic heights of Beethoven’s late, great dramatic Mass in a glorious musical tour de force bursting with exuberance and exhilaration. “Adrian Lucas draws fine responses from the Choir with impressive dynamic contrasts, refined inner tuning and impeccable blending of parts resulting in a greatly satisfying performance”. £10, £12.50, £16, £21.50, £26.50, £31.50, £35.50. Discounts available.
  *City of Birmingham Choir* *Bristol Choral Society* *City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra* *Adrian Lucas* Conductor *Lee Bissett* Soprano *Hannah Pedley* Mezzo soprano *Ben Segal* Tenor *David Soar* Bass
  
  

• Viennese Classics  

  Wed 19 Nov Symphony Hall

  Schubert and Brahms: their music epitomises all that was best in the Viennese tradition between the death of Beethoven and the arrival of Mahler. Olari Elts has chosen to couple one of Schubert’s sunniest symphonies with Brahms’ supremely dramatic violin concerto, played by an exceptional Norwegian soloist making his first appearance in Birmingham. Shorter works show a different side to both composers' amazingly varied talents.
  Olari Elts - conductor Henning Kraggerud - violin City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn 19’ Brahms: Violin Concerto 36’ Schubert (orch. Webern): German Dances 8’ Schubert: Symphony No. 5 26’
  

• Notelets Noël Notelets 11am 

  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. Please note this performance is currently sold out. Clicking on the below link will take you to the booking page if any returns are available. Alternatively you can call the Box Office on 0121 780 3333 to enquire.
  
  
  

• Notelets Noël Notelets 2pm 

  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. Please note this performance is currently sold out. Clicking on the below link will take you to the booking page if any returns are available. Alternatively you can call the Box Office on 0121 780 3333 to enquire.
  
  
  

• A London Symphony  

  Wed 17 Dec Symphony Hall

  For our final tribute to Vaughan Williams in this 50th anniversary year of his death, we are joined by one of his leading interpreters for a rare hearing of the original 1913 version of his ‘London’ Symphony. This extraordinary work was subsequently dedicated to his friend George Butterworth, who unlike Vaughan Wiliams never returned from the trenches of World War I - as a result we only have a few pieces, of which tonight’s is the best known, to remember him by. The dazzling 1920s concerto by Vaughan Williams’ teacher Ravel completes the programme. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - “A Symphony by a Londoner” English music specialist Michael Foster explores the genesis of Vaughan Williams’ colourful symphony.
  Richard Hickox - conductor Kirill Gerstein - piano City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  Butterworth: Banks of Green Willow 6’ Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major 21’ Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony (original version) 61’
  

• 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  
  

• 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  
  

• 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
  
  

• 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 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  
  

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