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George Thorogood plus support
Sun 24 May 2009 Symphony Hall
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Leon Jackson
Mon 25 May 2009 Symphony Hall
He triumphed on The X Factor and smashed straight in at No.1 with his first single, ‘When You Believe’. After releasing his second top 5 single, ‘Don’t Call This Love’ Leon Jackson is about to unveil his highly anticipated debut album ‘Right Now’. “I can’t wait just to get out there and start performing again,” says Leon. “After The X Factor ended all I’ve been doing is working non-stop on this album. It’s taken time and a lot of people probably thought I’d disappeared but the truth is this is my first album. It was important to spend time getting it right, getting it to be the album I wanted it to be. I’ve learnt so much in the past year, I’ve been writing songs and getting totally immersed in the music. I’m so proud of this.”
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Mahler’s Resurrection
Wed 27 May 2009 Symphony Hall
Andris Nelsons is the latest CBSO music director to bring us his interpretation of Mahler’s huge, all-embracing Resurrection symphony, long a CBSO speciality. Featuring a gigantic orchestra - on and offstage - as well as vocalists and chorus, this is one of the biggest statements in late-romantic art. Mahler’s emotional intensity, his echoing trumpet calls and his way of dividing the orchestra into different groups all find a contemporary echo in a recent work by leading German composer Jörg Widmann. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - Premiere! - Jorg Widmann Eminent German composer Jörg Widmann talks to Stephen Maddock about his Antiphon - which receives its UK premiere tonight.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Sarah Fox - soprano Mihoko Fujimura - mezzo-soprano City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Widmann: Antiphon (UK premiere) 15’ Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) 77’
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Thomas Trotter plays Bach’s Trio Sonatas
Fri 29 May 2009 Symphony Hall
It is said that Bach wrote these six miniature masterpieces as training studies for his son Wilhelm Friedmann. Written in three parts (one for each hand and one for the feet!), they are still amongst the most taxing pieces in all organ music, requiring physical dexterity and superb artistry to realise their vitality and charm. *BBC Music magazine’s Editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _The master of organ performance tackles Bach’s fiendish, extraordinary Trio Sonatas. Few organists would dare play all six in performance, but then Trotter has a reputation for being pretty fearless at the keyboard. If you want to be astounded by technique and musical beauty, this is the concert for you. The Symphony Hall Klais organ is perfect for this repertoire too._ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com *6.15pm Pre-concert talk* £5-£20 The concert will finish at approx. 9.30pm.
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Bach - A Beautiful Mind
Fri 29 May 2009 - Sun 31 May 2009 Symphony Hall
Bach is the most universal of all composers. In its perfect balance of humanity, spirituality and god like-invention, his music speaks to all like no other. To many he is the greatest of all composers and his music has the ability to fit into the everyday rhythm of our lives but also to transcend it. To close the concert season, Town Hall and Symphony Hall will reverberate to a weekend of Bach masterpieces in performance, by some of today's leading performers.
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Bach Discovery Day
Sat 30 May 2009 Symphony Hall
A day-long series of talks by guest speakers, with discussions and live music, that will give us a deeper insight into Bach’s beautiful mind, as well as the man behind the music. £15 60plus & students £10
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Mahler’s Resurrection
Sun 31 May 2009 Symphony Hall
Andris Nelsons is the latest CBSO music director to bring us his interpretation of Mahler’s huge, all-embracing Resurrection symphony, long a CBSO speciality. Featuring a gigantic orchestra - on and offstage - as well as vocalists and chorus, this is one of the biggest statements in late-romantic art. Mahler’s emotional intensity, his echoing trumpet calls and his way of dividing the orchestra into different groups all find a contemporary echo in a recent work by leading German composer Jörg Widmann.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Sarah Fox - soprano Mihoko Fujimura - mezzo-soprano City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) 77’
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Christy Moore with Declan Sinnott
Mon 1 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
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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’
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Tchaikovsky’s Little Russian
Wed 17 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
After Hamlet in November, Andris Nelsons offers us another of Tchaikovsky’s responses to Shakespeare, a passionate fantasy overture based on the kind of story of doomed love to which the composer was naturally drawn. But Tchaikovsky is not always doom and gloom, and his Second Symphony uses folk music to create a tuneful work of great charm. Britten, a more openly gay composer than Tchaikovsky, nevertheless suffered his own share of inner torment - but in his Serenade we hear his acutely sympathetic response to great English poems from across the ages. This concert is followed by a Members’ Afternoon Tea with Elspeth Dutch, in conversation with Christopher Morley of The Birmingham Post. 1.15pm Pre-concert talk - The Little Russian Roderic Dunnett of The Independent gives a user’s guide to Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony
Andris Nelsons - conductor Elspeth Dutch - horn Toby Spence - tenor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet 21’ Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings 26’ Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian) 33’
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Russell Howard
Wed 17 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
Still unfashionably fond of humanity the star of Mock The Week and BBC6 Music, Russell’s back with his 5th new stand-up show following 3 sell-out tours in the space of 1 year. ‘You’ll find more laughs here than many comedians manage in an entire career’, The Metro. “one of the most sought-after acts in British stand-up.” The Daily Telegraph www.russell-howard.co.uk www.myspace.com/russellhowardcomedian
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Tchaikovsky’s Little Russian
Thu 18 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
After Hamlet in November, Andris Nelsons offers us another of Tchaikovsky’s responses to Shakespeare, a passionate fantasy overture based on the kind of story of doomed love to which the composer was naturally drawn. But Tchaikovsky is not always doom and gloom, and his Second Symphony uses folk music to create a tuneful work of great charm. Britten, a more openly gay composer than Tchaikovsky, nevertheless suffered his own share of inner torment - but in his Serenade we hear his acutely sympathetic response to great English poems from across the ages. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - The Little Russian Roderic Dunnett of The Independent gives a user’s guide to Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony
Andris Nelsons - conductor Elspeth Dutch - horn Toby Spence - tenor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet 21’ Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings 26’ Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian) 33’
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Schools Concert: Romeo and Juliet
Fri 19 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
Shakespeare’s tragic love-story inspired many composers as well as young imaginations! Today’s concert specially devised for Key Stage 2 children (Years 3 & 4) features two pieces written in Russia and the USA almost a century apart. Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture retains Shakespeare’s characters, while Bernstein’s musical West Side Story updates Romeo and Juliet to modern times and the streets of New York.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Tommy Pearson - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
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Schools Concert: Romeo and Juliet
Fri 19 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
Shakespeare’s tragic love-story inspired many composers as well as young imaginations! Today’s concert specially devised for Key Stage 2 children (Years 3 & 4) features two pieces written in Russia and the USA almost a century apart. Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture retains Shakespeare’s characters, while Bernstein’s musical West Side Story updates Romeo and Juliet to modern times and the streets of New York.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Tommy Pearson - presenter City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
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A Hero’s Life
Wed 24 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
To close his first season, Andris Nelsons returns to his love of Richard Strauss, with the epic, semi-autobiographical tone poem in which the composer charts his marriage, his battles with his critics and his own earlier artistic creations. Haydn’s most famous mass - named for a great hero - also incorporates the sounds of war, and like Strauss, the composer pleads for a peace - Dona Nobis Pacem - that eventually arrives.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Claire Booth - soprano Hilary Summers - mezzo-soprano Andrew Kennedy - tenor Graeme Broadbent - bass City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Haydn: Nelson Mass 43’ Strauss: Ein Heldenleben 46’
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Jeff Beck plus support
Thu 25 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
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A Hero’s Life
Sat 27 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
To close his first season, Andris Nelsons returns to his love of Richard Strauss, with the epic, semi-autobiographical tone poem in which the composer charts his marriage, his battles with his critics and his own earlier artistic creations. Haydn’s most famous mass - named for a great hero - also incorporates the sounds of war, and like Strauss, the composer pleads for a peace - Dona Nobis Pacem - that eventually arrives. c.9.15pm Post-concert conversation With Andris Nelsons and Stephen Maddock.
Andris Nelsons - conductor Claire Booth - soprano Hilary Summers - mezzo-soprano Andrew Kennedy - tenor Graeme Broadbent - bass City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Haydn: Nelson Mass 43’ Strauss: Ein Heldenleben 46’
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No Place Like Home
Tue 30 Jun 2009 Symphony Hall
The brilliant young Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, making his second visit to the CBSO, brings with him the charming Flute Concerto by his compatriot Carl Nielsen, for which he will be joined by the CBSO’s outstanding flute section leader. The light-hearted side of the Danish character which Nielsen portrays here finds a good match in a tuneful suite by his contemporary Sibelius, drawn from the same patriotic pageant that also produced Finlandia. Dvorák was just as concerned as these two composers with reflecting national character through music, and his stirring Seventh Symphony is reckoned by many to be his finest orchestral work. 6.15pm Pre-concert talk - The Player’s Perspective • Dvorák’s Seventh Introduced by David Gregory - CBSO violinist.
Thomas Søndergård - conductor Marie-Christine Zupancic - flute City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Sibelius: Scènes historiques - Suite No. 1 20’ Nielsen: Flute Concerto 20’ Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 38’
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Neil Sedaka
Wed 1 Jul 2009 Symphony Hall
The history of Rock N’ Roll would be incomplete without the innumerable contributions of Neil Sedaka. For over fifty years, Neil has written, performed, produced, and inspired countless songs, and his canon of compositions will continue to stand the test of time. The accolades showered on Neil Sedaka have been numerous. Among the honors he has received, Sedaka has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, has had a street named after him in his hometown of Brooklyn, and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With a career spanning six decades, a rare feat in the entertainment world, Sedaka never ceases to amaze. He shows no signs of slowing down. Neil has appeared on FOX’s hit television show _American Idol_, as a guest judge - in which Clay Aiken would perform Neil’s Solitaire, which saw an inevitable release, reaching No 4 on the Hot 100 Singles chart, and was one of the Top Selling Singles of 2004. £42.50, £38.50
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Friday Night Classics: Bernstein on Broadway
Fri 3 Jul 2009 Symphony Hall
Showman, maestro, composer and party animal, Leonard Bernstein was the ultimate musical all-rounder - and he just happened to write some of the best tunes of the 20th century. Carl Davis brings his own brand of Broadway pizzazz to this all-singing, all-dancing salute to Bernstein - from the anarchic comedy of Candide to the urban drama and sheer passion of West Side Story. With a line-up that includes Tonight, America, Overture to Candide - and, of course, New York, New York - it’s just one great tune after another. And with Lennie, Carl and the CBSO, it’s a helluva sound!
Carl Davis - conductor Mary Carewe - vocalist Sarah Eyden - vocalist City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
