What's On — Mendelssohn events
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Nash Ensemble
Tue 10 Feb 2009 Town Hall
Rarely has a composer produced a work of such effortless genius as the sixteen-year-old Mendelssohn’s _Octet_ - a miraculous stream of wonderful melody. The Nash Ensemble marks the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth (February 1809) with a performance of this masterpiece in the hall in which the composer once played and conducted. It is heard next to the delicious Sextet from Strauss’s _Capriccio_ and the dark tragedy of Mozart’s great G minor String Quintet. 6.15pm pre-concert talk Tickets £5-£20
*Strauss* Sextet (_Capriccio_) 6’ *Mozart* Quintet in G Minor, K516 33’ *Mendelssohn* Octet 38’
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Brahms: German Requiem English Concert Singers, Chorus & Orchestra
Sun 8 Mar 2009 Town Hall
To celebrate their 20th anniversary year, the 200 performers of the English Concert Singers/Chorus and Orchestra, under their founding Music Director, Dr. Roy Wales, present Brahms’ greatest choral work, A German Requiem. Vaughan Williams’ beautiful, lyrical Serenade to Music (choral version) and Mendelssohn’s colourful overture The Hebrides complete this special anniversary concert.
*English Concert Singers* *English Concert Chorus* *English Concert Orchestra* *Roy Wales* Conductor *Helena Dix* Soprano *William Berger* Baritone
*Mendelssohn* The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) *R. Vaughan Williams* Serenade to Music *Brahms* A German Requiem
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Tokyo Quartet with cellist David Watkin
Sun 29 Mar 2009 Town Hall
Schubert’s String Quintet is one of the jewels in the crown of the chamber music repertoire. Its warm-hearted melodies and the rare beauty of its slow movement have made it one of the most popular Desert Island Discs for countless music-lovers. The incomparable Tokyo Quartet is celebrated for its ravishing refinement of tone and ensemble. They perform Schubert’s masterpiece alongside Haydn’s much-loved Emperor Quartet and the fresh innocence of Mendelssohn’s early Quartet in A minor. Tickets £5-£20
*Haydn* String Quartet in C, Op 76, No 3, Emperor 25’ *Mendelssohn* String Quartet in A minor, Op 13 30’ *Schubert* String Quintet in C, D956 55’
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The Emperor Concerto
Wed 20 May 2009 Symphony Hall
Premiered 200 years ago in 1809, Beethoven’s last and grandest concerto is a work on a truly epic scale, its torrents of notes providing the soloist with both a great challenge and a fantastic opportunity to shine, a task to which Birmingham favourite Freddy Kempf is well equal. 1809 was also the year of Mendelssohn’s birth, and we continue our bicentenary celebrations with his most popular and tuneful symphony. Finally, we stay in Italy for another of Tchaikovsky’s passionate tales of doomed love - this time, the lovers out of Dante’s Inferno.
Vassily Sinaisky - conductor Freddy Kempf - piano City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) 38’ Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 (Italian) 26’ Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini 24’
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The Emperor Concerto
Thu 21 May 2009 Symphony Hall
Premiered 200 years ago in 1809, Beethoven’s last and grandest concerto is a work on a truly epic scale, its torrents of notes providing the soloist with both a great challenge and a fantastic opportunity to shine, a task to which Birmingham favourite Freddy Kempf is well equal. 1809 was also the year of Mendelssohn’s birth, and we continue our bicentenary celebrations with his most popular and tuneful symphony. Finally, we stay in Italy for another of Tchaikovsky’s passionate tales of doomed love - this time, the lovers out of Dante’s Inferno.
Vassily Sinaisky - conductor Freddy Kempf - piano City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) 38’ Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 (Italian) 26’ Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini 24’

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