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The stuff of dreams and nightmares: Rachmaninov and Shostakovich in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 28 September 2023

Michael Seal, Boris Giltburg and the CBSO present an evening of glamour and horror, pairing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the unforgettable anguish of Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 8.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

29 Sep 2023

The stuff of dreams and nightmares in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Dramatic tragedy and joy at Symphony Hall in music by Shostakovich and Walton

By Simon Cummings, 16 September 2023

The CBSO and Kazuki Yamada, with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, get their new season up and running with an evening of ebullience, pain and, ultimately, happiness.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

17 Sep 2023

Dramatic tragedy and joy at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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London

Showing Orff: a rip-roaring Carmina Burana from Yamada and the CBSO

By Dominic Lowe, 27 July 2023

Psalm 150 and a collection of outrageous 13th-century texts by boisterous young clergyman collide at the Royal Albert Hall in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's Prom.

****1

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****1

London

29 Jul 2023

Showing Orff: a rip-roaring Carmina Burana from Yamada and the CBSO

By Dominic Lowe

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Cheltenham

Impressive CBSO open the Cheltenham Music Festival

By David Truslove, 08 July 2023

Well-honed performances from the CBSO under Andrew Gourlay are enjoyed by a packed Town Hall on the opening night of the festival.

****1

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****1

Cheltenham

10 Jul 2023

Impressive CBSO open the Cheltenham Music Festival

By David Truslove

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Birmingham

Not all that they seem: Britten and Elgar challenge expectations at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 14 June 2023

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO demonstrate the mercurial tension in Britten’s Serenade and Elgar’s First Symphony in the season finale.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

15 Jun 2023

Britten and Elgar challenge expectations at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Weightless and transparent: the CBSO and Kazuki Yamada amaze in Rachmaninov

By Simon Cummings, 07 June 2023

Under Kazuki Yamada, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra gives one of its finest performances in years, in a concert featuring music by Holst, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

08 Jun 2023

Weightless and transparent: the CBSO amazes in Rachmaninov 2

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Obsessed with life, dance and song: Mahler’s Tenth Symphony in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 18 May 2023

Robert Treviño and the CBSO channel the stylistic shifts of Mahler’s Symphony no. 10 to reveal a work volatile and painful, yet bristling with life to the last.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

19 May 2023

Obsessed with life, dance and song: Mahler’s Tenth in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Flexibility, telepathy and perhaps a miracle: Jörg Widmann and the CBSO

By Simon Cummings, 10 May 2023

Jörg Widmann helms an exhilarating CBSO concert in Birmingham, making Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony sound brand new.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

11 May 2023

Flexibility, telepathy and perhaps a miracle: Widmann and the CBSO

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Leleux and the CBSO opt for safe and popular

By Robert Gainer, 13 April 2023

Behzod Abduraimov impresses in Rachmaninov's evergreen Second Piano Concerto.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

14 Apr 2023

Leleux and the CBSO opt for safe and popular

By Robert Gainer

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Birmingham

All or nothing: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO blow hot and cold in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 15 March 2023

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s polarised approach exaggerates music by Weinberg and Prokofiev, while Kirill Gerstein keeps control in a refreshing, elegant performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto.

**111

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**111

Birmingham

16 Mar 2023

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO blow hot and cold in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Hiding in plain sight: Ilan Volkov steals the show at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 22 February 2023

A self-effacing, literal approach from conductor Ilan Volkov brings marvellous transparency to works by Sibelius and Prokofiev, while highlighting the flaws in a new work by Freya Waley-Cohen.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

23 Feb 2023

Hiding in plain sight: Ilan Volkov steals the show at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO prove there is life to be found on other planets

By Robert Gainer, 01 February 2023

Kazuki Yamada returns to the CBSO with an ever-popular orchestral suite, an under-appreciated concerto, and a fabulous pianist in Alexandre Kantorow to play it.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

02 Feb 2023

Yamada and the CBSO prove there is life to be found on other planets

By Robert Gainer

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Birmingham

A Tale of Two Symphonies: Larcher and Mahler in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 12 January 2023

Gergely Madaras’ interesting approach to Mahler’s First suffers from sloppy execution while Larcher’s Third succeeds in a vivid evocation from the CBSO of triumph and tragedy.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

13 Jan 2023

A Tale of Two Symphonies: Larcher and Mahler in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Vaughan Williams at 150: an evening of symphonic song with the City of Birmingham Choir

By Simon Cummings, 06 November 2022

The City of Birmingham Choir and CBSO conducted by Adrian Lucas navigate the choppy waters of Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

07 Nov 2022

Vaughan Williams at 150 with the City of Birmingham Choir

By Simon Cummings

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Los Angeles

Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO serve up sonority in Los Angeles

By Néstor Castiglione, 12 October 2022

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and its former Music Director thunder in Disney Hall in the latest stop on their US tour.

****1

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****1

Los Angeles

17 Oct 2022

Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO serve up sonority in Los Angeles

By Néstor Castiglione

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Birmingham

Lifelessness, extremes and emotional weight in a conflicted evening at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 06 October 2022

Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the CBSO give a flat rendition of Haydn in an otherwise emotionally-conflicted, moving evening featuring Weinberg, Elgar and Thomas Adès.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

07 Oct 2022

Lifelessness, extremes and emotional weight in conflicted CBSO evening

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Heralding a new era: exuberant Dvořák and mature Mendelssohn at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 20 September 2022

Nicola Benedetti and the CBSO under Kazuki Yamada bring impressive levels of sensitivity and honesty to Dvořák’s New World Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

21 Sep 2022

Heralding a new CBSO era: exuberant Dvořák and mature Mendelssohn

By Simon Cummings

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London

Dame Ethel Smyth at the double: a rare concerto for Kazuki Yamada’s Proms debut

By Mark Pullinger, 25 July 2022

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's Chief Conductor Designate makes a strong impression in purposeful Rachmaninov after Elena Urioste and Ben Goldscheider wave the flag for Dame Ethel Smyth.

****1

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****1

London

25 Jul 2022

Smyth at the double: a rare concerto for Kazuki Yamada’s Proms debut

By Mark Pullinger

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Birmingham

Dancing on the grave: Brabbins conducts Stanford’s unshakeably happy Requiem in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 02 July 2022

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and University of Birmingham Singers revel in the ecstasy, majesty and glory of Stanford’s Requiem.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

03 Jul 2022

Dancing on the grave: Brabbins conducts Stanford’s Requiem

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Thrilling Mahler 2 from Markus Stenz and the CBSO to close the season

By Rohan Shotton, 22 June 2022

Mahler's Resurrection Symphony is something of a calling card for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, here originally billed as Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s final concert as musical director.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

24 Jun 2022

Thrilling Mahler 2 from Markus Stenz and the CBSO to close the season

By Rohan Shotton

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Birmingham

Formality, intimacy, ferocity: a remarkable interplay of contrasts from the CBSO and Ludovic Morlot

By Simon Cummings, 15 June 2022

Ludovic Morlot helms an exhilarating, literally stunning, evening of music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Britten and Shostakovich.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

16 Jun 2022

Formality, intimacy, ferocity: Ludovic Morlot and the CBSO

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Gabriela Montero captivates Birmingham with her unique interpretation of Tchaikovsky

By Robert Gainer, 11 May 2022

With two very well-known pieces, could Gabriela Montero, Gražintyė-Tyla and the CBSO find ways of keeping them interesting? The answer was a resounding ‘Yes’.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

12 May 2022

Gabriela Montero captivates with her unique Tchaikovsky

By Robert Gainer

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Birmingham

Kopatchinskaja and Gražinytė-Tyla bring plenty of life to Russian music with the CBSO

By David Karlin, 02 March 2022

The Moldovan-Austrian-Swiss violinist brings boundless energy to Stravinsky, while the CBSO excels in the slower passages of Tchaikovsky.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

03 Mar 2022

Kopatchinskaja and Gražinytė-Tyla bring life to Russian music

By David Karlin

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Birmingham

Kazuki Yamada states his intentions with the CBSO and Mahler

By Robert Gainer, 19 January 2022

With the help of soprano Fatma Said and a compelling programme, the incoming City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra chief conductor made good on his promise and past performances.

*****

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*****

Birmingham

20 Jan 2022

Kazuki Yamada states his intentions with the CBSO and Mahler

By Robert Gainer

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Birmingham

Two orchestras? The CBSO mesmerises in Miller but makes a mess of Beethoven

By Simon Cummings, 06 October 2021

Finnegan Downie Dear oversees a decidedly conflicted concert of works by Beethoven, Britten and Cassandra Miller that veered between ravishing beauty and unsynchronised sloppiness.

***11

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***11

Birmingham

07 Oct 2021

The CBSO mesmerises in Miller but makes a mess of Beethoven

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO open 2021 season with a triumphant mix of light and serious

By Simon Cummings, 16 September 2021

The CBSO’s newly-announced Chief Conductor delivers a jaw-dropping season opener featuring French and Russian music full of emotional contrasts.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

17 Sep 2021

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO open their 2021 season triumphantly

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Three kinds of Romanticism from the CBSO: music by Gipps, Brahms and Adès

By Simon Cummings, 04 August 2021

The CBSO explored a plethora of Romantic ideas in a trio of symphonies, including a premiere from Thomas Adès.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

05 Aug 2021

Three kinds of Romanticism: Gipps, Brahms and Adès in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Driven by fear, fuelled by love: private and public creative struggles explored in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 23 June 2021

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla with the CBSO and mezzo Karen Cargill tease out the contrasting inner and outer emotional tension in music by Weinberg and Mahler.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

24 Jun 2021

Driven by fear, fuelled by love: Weinberg and Mahler from the CBSO

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Music in hiding? Nicholas Collon and the CBSO return to Birmingham Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 26 May 2021

While Stravinsky and Britten tuck away their sentiments and melodies, the debate about Shostakovich’s Fifth seems finally to be settled.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

27 May 2021

Music in hiding? Collon and the CBSO return to Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings

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Birmingham

Short but sweet: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO in Vaughan Williams and Bartók

By Chris Garlick, 03 December 2020

The Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis crowned an evening for the CBSO strings and brass to shine at Symphony Hall.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

03 Dec 2020

Short but sweet: the CBSO in Vaughan Williams and Bartók

By Chris Garlick

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Birmingham

Defiant celebration and emotional depth from Kanneh-Mason, Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO

By Nick Boston, 19 November 2020

The CBSO and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla celebrate their anniversary with energy and hope in Sibelius and Beethoven, together with emotional depth in Elgar from Sheku-Kanneh Mason.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

22 Nov 2020

Defiant celebration and emotional depth in CBSO centenary

By Nick Boston

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Birmingham

Music on autopilot: Michael Seal and the CBSO at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 29 February 2020

Attempts at crowd-pleasing go awry in music by Vaughan Williams and Gary Carpenter, while John Foulds escapes unscathed.

**111

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**111

Birmingham

02 Mar 2020

Music on autopilot: Michael Seal and the CBSO at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings

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London

Binge-listening: a bumper Beethoven Weekender at the Barbican

By Mark Pullinger, 01 February 2020

Nine symphonies, five orchestras, two days: an immersive weekend as part of the Barbican's Beethoven 250 coverage featuring some of the UK's finest orchestras.

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London

02 Feb 2020

Binge-listening: a bumper Beethoven Weekender at the Barbican

By Mark Pullinger

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Birmingham

Mirga's Mahler: the Symphony of a Thousand in Birmingham

By Mark Valencia, 19 January 2020

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla approached the Eighth with a clear vision of the music’s structure and a plan to free the life that teems beneath its mighty vaults.

****1

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****1

Birmingham

20 Jan 2020

Mirga's Mahler: the Symphony of a Thousand in Birmingham

By Mark Valencia

London

Prom 46: Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts a riveting Weinberg Third Symphony

By Mark Pullinger, 22 August 2019

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla brings Mieczysław Weinberg to the Proms, in a daring programme including Dorothy Howell and Oliver Knussen.

***11

***11

London

23 Aug 2019

Prom 46: Gražinytė-Tyla conducts a riveting Weinberg Third Symphony

By Mark Pullinger

Birmingham

A gleefully diabolical Damnation of Faust in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton, 26 June 2019

Edward Gardner conducts a richly entertaining account of Berlioz's masterpiece in Birmingham

*****

*****

Birmingham

30 Jun 2019

A gleefully diabolical Damnation of Faust in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton

Birmingham

Bold, dramatic colour in Gražinytė-Tyla's CBSO Mahler 2

By Rohan Shotton, 13 June 2019

Mahler 2 must be mother’s milk for the CBSO Chorus, though they sang with affecting passion from their soft, seated entry to towering last peroration of the Resurrection hymn.

****1

****1

Birmingham

14 Jun 2019

Bold, dramatic colour in Gražinytė-Tyla's CBSO Mahler 2

By Rohan Shotton

Basingstoke

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in compelling form at the Anvil

By David Truslove, 10 May 2019

An evening of first-class music making from one of the UK's top orchestras in a varied programme that showed off the strengths of all concerned.

*****

*****

Basingstoke

13 May 2019

CBSO in compelling form at the Anvil

By David Truslove

Birmingham

Exaggeration and disinterest mar John Wilson's CBSO programme

By Simon Cummings, 06 April 2019

John Wilson oversees a glossy, superficial take on early 20th-century works from England and the USA.

**111

**111

Birmingham

08 Apr 2019

Exaggeration and disinterest mar John Wilson's CBSO programme

By Simon Cummings

Birmingham

Responding to the intangible: Grieg and Čiurlionis at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 16 February 2019

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO present the UK première of a neglected Lithuanian tone poem alongside Grieg’s Peer Gynt.

*****

*****

Birmingham

18 Feb 2019

Responding to the intangible: Grieg and Čiurlionis at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings

Birmingham

Jennifer France and the CBSO faultless in New Year's Concert at Symphony Hall

By Robert Gainer, 06 January 2019

Following the recipe of the New Year Concert from Vienna, the CBSO demonstrated their ability, but not much originality in this predictable programme.

***11

***11

Birmingham

06 Jan 2019

France and the CBSO faultless in New Year's Concert

By Robert Gainer

Birmingham

Ghostly remembrances: Mieczysław Weinberg championed in Birmingham

By Mark Pullinger, 24 November 2018

Nearly a century after his birth, Weinberg's final completed symphony is given its UK premiere by the CBSO and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.

****1

****1

Birmingham

25 Nov 2018

Ghostly remembrances: Weinberg championed in Birmingham

By Mark Pullinger

Birmingham

Matinee enchantment from Grosvenor, Sinaisky and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

By Nick John Whittle, 25 October 2018

This afternoon Vassily Sinaisky was in charge of the CBSO for a matinee performance which began with Wagner’s overture, ended with a Sibelius symphony and had siphoned between them an ever-popular piano concerto by Mozart.

****1

****1

Birmingham

27 Oct 2018

Matinee enchantment from Grosvenor, Sinaisky and the CBSO

By Nick John Whittle

Birmingham

Kazuki Yamada rocks Symphony Hall

By Nick John Whittle, 10 October 2018

Principal Guest Conductor Kazuki Yamada teases brilliant French sounds from the CBSO.

****1

****1

Birmingham

12 Oct 2018

Kazuki Yamada rocks Symphony Hall

By Nick John Whittle

Birmingham

Chauhan takes CBSO from shaky start to triumphant finale

By Robert Gainer, 27 September 2018

Conductor Alpesh Chauhan and pianist Pavel Kolesnikov returned to Birmingham with an Italian themed programme. Could they build on the success of their previous performances with the CBSO?

***11

***11

Birmingham

28 Sep 2018

Chauhan takes CBSO from shaky start to triumphant finale

By Robert Gainer

Birmingham

Collision of the Old and New World brings fireworks to the CBSO's season opener

By Nick John Whittle, 12 September 2018

It was Omer Meir Wellber’s turn to conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in its first concert of the new season, a programme of music by Dvořák and Bartók which promised to be the perfect antidote to the Daily Grind.

****1

****1

Birmingham

14 Sep 2018

Fireworks in the CBSO's season opener

By Nick John Whittle

Edinburgh

Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes his EIF debut playing Elgar's Cello Concerto

By Simon Thompson, 17 August 2018

Beautiful textures and radiant clarity as the CBSO comes to the Edinburgh Festival.

****1

****1

Edinburgh

18 Aug 2018

Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes his EIF debut

By Simon Thompson

London

Prom 44: Lili Boulanger steals the show in Morlot’s opalescent French tableau

By Mark Thomas, 15 August 2018

Colour and light from Ludovic Morlot and the CBSO in Debussy and Ravel, but it was the power and depth of Lili Boulanger’s Psalm 130 that shone the brightest.

****1

****1

London

16 Aug 2018

Prom 44: Lili Boulanger steals the show

By Mark Thomas

Birmingham

The good, the bad and the ugly: Shostakovich, Brahms and Simon Holt in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings, 13 June 2018

Alisa Weilerstein delivered an amazingly raw performance of Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto, whereas Ilan Volkov and the CBSO’s renditions of Simon Holt and Brahms (reimagined by Schoenberg) proved alienating and overblown.

***11

***11

Birmingham

14 Jun 2018

Shostakovich, Brahms and Simon Holt in Birmingham

By Simon Cummings

Birmingham

A portrait in all but name: Jörg Widmann and the CBSO at Symphony Hall

By Simon Cummings, 06 June 2018

A showcase of Jörg Widmann’s talents as composer, conductor and clarinettist in works by Mozart, Weber and himself

****1

****1

Birmingham

07 Jun 2018

A portrait in all but name: Jörg Widmann and the CBSO

By Simon Cummings