Good Friday Bach St John Passion
Yuri Simonov.
Bach: A Beautiful Mind
Samuel Boden. Photo by Robert Bridgens.
Friday 18 April 2014 2pm Symphony Hall
J S Bach St John Passion
90’
£9.50–£40 SH Standard Orchestral Plan Sung in German with English surtitles. Please note surtitles may not be visible from every seat. Please check when booking. This concert has a running time of c 2 hours including one 20 minute interval. Ex Cathedra is a Town Hall Associate Artist.
The annual Bach Passion has become a Birmingham tradition at Eastertide, and whatever your personal beliefs, Bach’s deeply personal re-telling of Christ’s betrayal and death remains one of music’s profoundest experiences. Birmingham’s world-beating chamber choir carries the tradition forward this year; and under Jeffrey Skidmore their questing, open-minded approach to music-making promises to bring new insights, as well as piercing beauty, to this climax of Bach: A Beautiful Mind. Ex Cathedra Choir and Baroque Orchestra Jeffrey Skidmore conductor Samuel Boden Evangelist Peter Harvey Jesus Greg Skidmore Pilate
Pavel Haas Quartet plays Brahms and Beethoven
Chamber music has been called ‘the music of friends’ and this afternoon the Pavel Haas Quartet introduces Birmingham to pianist Denis Kozhukhin whose recent UK performances have caused a minor critical sensation. Brahms’s F minor Quintet might just be the greatest of all piano quintets, but in their final Birmingham concert this season, the Pavel Haas Quartet won’t hold back – they open with a Beethoven quartet that’s as big as a symphony. Oliver Condy, Editor of BBC Music Magazine explains why he has recommended this afternoon’s concert: “As multiple winners at the BBC Music Magazine awards over the years, the Pavel Haas Quartet have made it in our eyes! But don’t take our word for it – hear for yourself why we once called their playing ‘beyond reproach’.”
30
Pavel Haas Quartet. Photo by Marco Borggreve.
Sunday 4 May 2014 3pm Town Hall
Pavel Haas Quartet Denis Kozhukhin piano Beethoven String Quartet Op 59, No 2, Razumovsky 33’ Brahms Piano Quintet 41’ £9.50 – £25 TH Classical Plan Choir Benches not available.
Tchaikovsky from the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Tuesday 6 May 2014 7.30pm Symphony Hall It’s hard to define, but when a Russian orchestra plays Russian music, something very special happens. The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is drenched in that tradition, and under veteran Music Director Yuri Simonov, we can expect intensely committed readings of two of Tchaikovsky’s most personal works. Natalie Clein, meanwhile, is always popular at Symphony Hall: tonight she has near-perfect partners for Shostakovich’s taut political thriller of a cello concerto.
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Yuri Simonov conductor Natalie Clein cello Tchaikovsky Symphonic Poem, Francesca da Rimini 22’ Shostakovich Cello Concerto No 1 28’ Tchaikovsky Symphony No 4 44’ £9.50 – £40 SH Standard Orchestral Plan
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Box office 0121 345 0601 or visit www.thsh.co.uk/bics-2013-14
31