City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Soloist: Alice Sara Ott, piano

Programme:
William Walton, Spitfire, Prelude and Fugue
Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37
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Edward Elgar, Enigma Variations, Op.36

Founded in 1920, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, winner of the prestigious 2020 “Recording of the Year” Prize (Gramophone) was the first publicly funded orchestra in UK’s history. In the 1980s, under the baton of young Simon Rattle, the CBSO rose to international acclaim as one of the world’s most exciting, versatile and innovative orchestras. Rattle and the orchestra demonstrated that art has the power to revive the life of an entire city. In 2023, Kazuki Yamada, Principal Conductor of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, became the CBSO's next Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor. The evening’s icing on the cake is pianist Alice Sara Ott, a stunning virtuoso, as well as talented illustrator and designer, with as many as ten solo albums released on Deutsche Grammophon. 

The markedly British programme includes works by William Walton – his soundtrack for a black-and-white biographical war film, and Edward Elgar, whose output occupies a special place in the orchestra's repertoire: in 1920, Elgar conducted the inaugural concert of the then newly-formed ensemble. Bookended by British music is Beethoven’s most concentrated and dramatic piano concerto that helped cement the composer's reputation as a creative genius.