Events

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Ex Cathedra present :

Stravinsky Cycle

Venue: Symphany Hall, CBSO Centre and Warwick Arts Centre.
www.cbso.co.uk

FAIRYTALE STRAVINSKY

Wednesday 14 June 2006, 7.30pm
SYMPHONY HALL

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Stravinsky’s sparkling fairytale opera was based on Hans Christian Anderson’s story The Nightingale. This compact three-act work is steeped in the Russian traditions of Stravinsky’s teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, and features Anu Komsi as the Nightingale. Sakari Oramo also conducts two later masterpieces: the Violin Concerto of 1931 displays the composer’s love of Bach, while the Four Études of 1930 were adaptations of earlier pieces for string quartet and pianola.

Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm: Renowned musicologist Paul Griffiths introduces the concert.

Tickets: £7.50, £12.50, £15, £19.50, £21.50, £26.50, £30, £33.50, £37

DISCOVER STRAVINSKY

Sunday 18 June 2006, 11am-4pm
CBSO CONTRE

Stravinsky is best known for his large-scale orchestral scores, but throughout his life he wrote chamber music for a kaleidoscope variety of smaller ensembles. This entertaining and informative day of words and music showcases this more intimate side of Stravinsky – ranging from colourful piano works to exquisite instrumental miniatures. Renowned pianist Peter Donohoe is joined by CBSO musicians in two specially-devised recitals (with a break for lunch in between), while Paul Griffiths – a world authority on Stravinsky’s life and work – will introduce the music.

Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions)

SACRED STRAVINSKY

Thursday 22 June 2006, 7.30pm
SYMPHONY HALL

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Ex Cathedra

Birmingham’s world-renowned chamber choir Ex Cathedra joins the CBSO for an exploration of Stravinsky’s sacred choral music. Ranging from the miniatures he wrote in his youth, to a full-scale Catholic mass setting, it will also include music inspired by St Mark’s in Venice, close to Stravinsky’s grave.

Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm: Renowned musicologist Paul Griffiths introduces the concert.

Tickets: £7.50, £12.50, £15, £19.50, £21.50, £26.50, £30, £33.50, £37

IGORFEST: OEDIPUS REX

Saturday 28 October, 7pm
SYMPHONY HALL – booking opens 12 June

Today’s concert, and the IgorFest concerts which follow in
October, form the second instalment of the IgorFest journey. Sakari Oramo
conducts IgorFest’s most spectacular concert yet, featuring a galaxy of
international stars. The amazing Pokrovsky Ensemble from Russia brings us
Stravinsky’s extraordinary evocation of a peasant village wedding, preceded
by the kind of earthy folk songs that were the composer’s model. Then the
CBSO and Chorus will thrill you with the composer’s electrifying ‘Opera-
Oratorio’ based on Sophocles’ great tragic tale of plague, murder and
accidental incest.

Pre-concert talk at 5.45pm: Renowned musicologist Paul Griffiths introduces the concert.

Tickets: £7.50, £12.50, £15, £19.50, £21.50, £26.50, £30, £33.50

IGORFEST:CBSO YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Sunday 29 October, 3pm
WARWICK ARTS CENTRE – booking opens 12 June
Via Warwick Arts CentreBox Office – call 024 7652 4524

Sakari Oramo directs the CBSO’s acclaimed Youth Orchestra in the rarely-heard
Suite from Stravinsky’s sumptuous original version of The Firebird,
plus an extraordinary glimpse of Stravinsky in Hollywood – Four Norwegian
Moods. There’s also a celebration slightly closer to home. In what would
have been the 50th season of the Midland Youth Orchestra, its last Music
Director, Anthony Bradbury, conducts two wonderfully appropriate rarities.
Stravinsky’s youthful First Symphony is an exuberant homage to the Russian
romantics, while his hilarious Greeting Prelude will need no explanation!

Tickets are available exclusively from Warwick Arts Centre Box Office on 024 7652 4524 or online at www.warwickartscentre.co.uk. Tickets £11 all areas (£5.50 under 16s). Concessions £2 off.

IGORFEST: PETRUSHKA

Tuesday 31 October, 7.30pm
SYMPHONY HALL – booking opens 12 June

Experience two very different sides of Stravinsky’s amazing versatility this
evening. Both Apollo, a beautifully cool ballet score for strings only, and the
Concerto for Piano and Winds are products of his 1920s enthusiasm for
classical and baroque music. His popular ballet music for Petrushka, on the
other hand, comes from the start of the previous decade and is a brilliant
drama of love and death among the puppets at a fairground. In all three of
tonight’s works Stravinsky’s fantastic gifts for orchestral colour and direct
story-telling are very much apparent.

Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm: Renowned musicologist Paul Griffiths introduces the concert.

Tickets: £7.50, £12.50, £15, £19.50, £21.50, £26.50, £30, £33.50, £37