Centenary of the First Concert
- Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 7.30pm on Tuesday 17th November
- Available to view via the CBSO website from 6pm on Thursday 19th November – Friday 18th December
- View concert information on the CBSO website click here
- Tickets on sale now, costing £10
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla – conductor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason – cello
Sibelius Lemminkainen’s Return
Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela
Elgar Cello Concerto
Beethoven Leonore Overture No.3
On 10 November 1920 Sir Edward Elgar conducted the City of Birmingham Orchestra in its first symphonic concert – and the future CBSO took its first step onto the world stage. 100 years later, we welcome another Midlands superstar, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, in one of the pieces that Elgar conducted on that historic night: his Cello Concerto, then unknown, but now one of Britain’s best-loved classics. And Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla celebrates another of our star guests from a century ago, Jean Sibelius, before raising a toast to Beethoven in his 250th birthday year: a gripping musical drama of love, courage, and triumph against all odds. In 2020, as in 1920, music means life – and we have never been more eager to share it.
This concert was filmed in Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Tuesday 10 November 2020. This video on demand is available to view from 6pm on Thursday 19 November 2020 until Friday 18 December 2020.
Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
- Available to view via the CBSO website from 6pm on Thursday 26th November – Tuesday 22nd December
- View concert information on the CBSO website
- Tickets on sale soon
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla – conductor
Eugene Tzikindelean – Play/Direct
Ireland Downland Suite or Holst A Moorside Suite
Bartók Divertimento
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Everything old is new again. Béla Bartók roamed the forests of Transylvania, listening to the folk songs that he hoped would open a path to the musical future. John Ireland celebrated the landscape of his beloved South Downs, in music as fresh as an English spring morning. And Ralph Vaughan Williams took an ancient hymn tune and wove a masterpiece like no other: serene, impassioned and as beautiful now as the day it was first heard – in Gloucester Cathedral, 110 years ago. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the strings of the CBSO in music to refresh mind and spirit, and our brilliant new leader Eugene Tzikindelean brings a very personal flair to music close to his heart.
This concert will be filmed in Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Wednesday 18 November 2020, and will be available to view online only from 6pm on Thursday 26 November 2020 until Tuesday 22 December 2020.
Alpesh conducts Mendelssohn
- Available to view via the CBSO website from 6pm on Thursday 3rd December – Friday 1st January
- View concert information on the CBSO website
- Tickets on sale soon
Alpesh Chauhan – conductor
Karen Cargill – mezzo-soprano
Brahms Academic Festival Overture
Berlioz La mort de Cléopâtre
Mendelssohn Symphony No.1
Alpesh Chauhan needs no introduction here in Birmingham – but today he conducts some of the most fabulous music you have never heard. Beautiful and defiant, Queen Cleopatra seizes destiny by the throat: and in Berlioz’s astonishing mini-opera, you’ll hear every shout of rage, every cry of passion and even the slither of a deadly snake. No-one, but no-one, sings this music like Karen Cargill, and Chauhan has framed it with two equally colourful favourites, both bursting with personality. Mendelssohn’s First Symphony explodes into life with irresistible energy, while the cheerful student drinking songs of Brahms’s exuberant overture prove – once again – that youth is simply a state of mind. Bottoms up!
This concert will be filmed in Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Wednesday 25 November 2020, and will be available to view online only from 6pm on Thursday 3 December 2020 until Friday 1 January 2021.