City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

CBSO/Gražinytė-Tyla/Frang review – remarkable performance brings out Elgar’s extraordinary beauty

On her final tour as conductor of the CBSO Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, here joined by violin virtuoso Vilde Frang captures every moment of febrility and nobility with a startling immediacy

Rian Evans

12, Mar, 2023 @2:47 PM

The week in classical: The Decision; The Dream of Gerontius; Soloists of the CBSO – review

Birmingham Opera Company regroup, and the CBSO triumph in Elgar’s great oratorio as the city’s rich musical life thrives. And shock and anger as the BBC Singers are axed

Fiona Maddocks

11, Mar, 2023 @12:30 PM

CBSO: Sounds New review – showcasing the talents of 20 young musicians

Composers in their 20s and early 30s presented original miniatures in a diverse range of styles from English pastoral to jazz and folk to irresistible gospel and soul

Andrew Clements

30, Jan, 2023 @3:00 PM

CBSO/Madaras review – tumultuous, multi-faceted symphonies by Larcher and Mahler

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra delivered a fierce Thomas Larcher’s piece and some idyllic Mahler as part of its belated centenary bonanza

Andrew Clements

13, Jan, 2023 @12:56 PM

In This Brief Moment review – Darwin, Genesis and whirlygigs in Brett Dean’s mindblowing cantata

Dean’s five-part evolution cantata was brought to vivid life by Nicholas Collon and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Rian Evans

26, Sep, 2022 @2:00 PM

The week in classical: Prom 14: CBSO/ Yamada; Prom 16: BBCNOW/ Manze; L’incoronazione di Poppea

Why do some Proms sound better in the Albert Hall and others at home on the radio? Elsewhere, Grimeborn gets off to a smouldering start

Fiona Maddocks

30, Jul, 2022 @11:30 AM

Prom 14: CBSO/Yamada review – Smyth beguiles and Rachmaninov ravishes

Ethel Smyth’s Concerto for Violin and Horn was deftly handled by the CBSO’s chief conductor designate Kazuki Yamada and soloists Elena Urioste and Ben Goldscheider

Tim Ashley

26, Jul, 2022 @10:35 AM

CBSO/Morlot review – remarkable Thorvaldsdottir and phenomenal Kopatchinskaja

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis, premiered here by Ludovic Morlot and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is an extraordinary achievement

Andrew Clements

16, Jun, 2022 @10:06 AM

CBSO/Gražinytė-Tyla review – assured Bruckner and arresting Tchaikovsky mark the end of a Birmingham era

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
In her last UK concert as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Gražinytė-Tyla showed just what a fine and nuanced Bruckner interpreter she really is

Andrew Clements

12, May, 2022 @4:08 PM

The Ordering of Moses review – Dett’s oratorio thrills on its belated UK premiere

Joshua Weilerstein conducted the CBSO in a rare outing for the African American composer Robert Nathaniel Dett’s vivid and impassioned ‘sacred cantata’

Andrew Clements

24, Feb, 2022 @12:51 PM

The Cunning Little Vixen review – CBSO’s concert staging has care but misses vital charm

Elena Tsallagova was a feisty vixen and the CBSO’s playing under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla was outstanding in a more matter-of-fact interpretation of Janáček’s opera than one normally hears

Andrew Clements

17, Nov, 2021 @6:28 PM