CBSO 2026/27 Elgar's Cello Concerto
B:Music (Town Hall & Symphony Hall)Symphony Hall, 8 Centenary Square, Birmingham
Wed 2 Dec · 19:00
About this event
Artists Joshua Weilerstein Conductor Alisa Weilerstein Cello City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Programme Weinberg Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, 12mins Elgar Cello Concerto, 30mins Shostakovich Symphony No.10, 57mins Overview Nostalgia, tributes to a homeland – and the resilience of the human spirit. This is a deeply affecting programme, evoking loss, yearning, and a profound struggle with darkness. Weinberg’s Rhapsody is a tribute to his father’s country of birth, its folk songs ranging from solemn songs to vibrant dances. Elgar’s autumnal, haunting Cello Concerto was composed in the shattered aftermath of World War I, and could easily be an elegy for a lost world. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 is, for the most part, a howl of anguish – or possibly a cathartic release after the death of Stalin. Yet the final blast is a moment of spectacular triumph.
