One of the biggest musical collaborations set to take the Birmingham stage by storm
The voice of Lenin, the sound of gunfire and almost 400 performers will, on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October 2009 at 7.30pm, catapult audiences back to the Russian Revolution as part of one of the most exciting and unique musical collaborations set to take Birmingham by storm. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and CBSO Chorus and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre will take part in this immense musical spectacle at Symphony Hall, led by one of the most electrifying conductors of our time - Valery Gergie.
Around 170 of the world’s best musicians from St Petersburg and Birmingham will perform together and will include: 90 string players, eight bassoons, four tubas, a military band, six accordionists, plus four brass bands positioned around the auditorium. In the Berlioz, 22 timpani drums that have been collected together for the event from St Petersburg, London, Manchester and Birmingham will be played by eight British and Russian timpanists. The combined result will be a visual as well as aural tour de force.
CBSO’s acclaimed amateur chorus of 150 will have spent around 30 hours rehearsing and will need to switch between Russian and Latin as part of this concert; perfecting not just the music but a unified style of singing. For the first time they will be joining forces with 60 members of the Mariinsky’s own professional chorus who have already performed this repertoire internationally including in St Petersburg, New York and Tokyo.
The rare and exhilarating Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution has only been played a handful of times. It was seen as too musically revolutionary following its composition in 1937, then too Stalinist to be played in full until after the fall of the Soviet Union. As a result, it had to wait until 1992 for its first complete performance.
Berlioz’s Requiem, originally composed to commemorate the dead of the French Revolution, is also a rarity due to the huge forces it employs and the size of the venue required.
These performances will be two of the biggest concerts ever to be presented on Symphony Hall’s stage. With its world-famous acoustics and unique design, Symphony Hall is one of the few concert halls in the UK capable of presenting a project of this size.
These concerts represent a gigantic Anglo-Russian cultural venture on an unprecedented scale, led by an unmissable conducting force – Valery Gergiev. For four days of rehearsals and performances, British and Russian musicians will work closely together to form one huge international ensemble. Gergiev has been a regular visitor to Symphony Hall with his Mariinsky forces ever since the hall opened in 1991. His relationship with the CBSO goes back even further. The CBSO was one of the first UK orchestras to invite Gergiev to work with them; he made his debut with the orchestra in 1989, conducting several concerts over subsequent seasons in Birmingham’s Town Hall, and visiting Symphony Hall before its public opening.
This remarkable collaboration will celebrate a special synergy between the CBSO, the Mariinsky and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall where the CBSO enjoys its residency. Stephen Maddock, Chief Executive of the CBSO said “We are thrilled to be taking part in what will be one of the greatest orchestral spectacles of its kind in the acoustics of one of the best concert halls in the world. Gergiev has an energy that captures the imagination of the audience and, with the sound of gunfire and complete bands in the balconies, those onlookers will certainly be in for a treat.
“The logistics for an event like this has taken years in the planning. English and Russian speaking players share the common language of music to articulate a time of revolution and devotion on the grandest of scales. It really will be a special night to remember”.
Andrew Jowett, Director, Town Hall & Symphony Hall said “Symphony Hall’s long association with the Mariinsky company goes back to 1991 and we have enjoyed some very memorable concerts indeed. However, this new opportunity which brings Gergiev’s great opera company together with Birmingham’s own celebrated symphony orchestra and chorus in two works of this scale may yet surpass them!”
This concert will be performed on Wednesday 14 Thursday 15 October, 7.30pm Symphony Hall Birmingham. Free, pre-concert talks will take place at 6.15pm. Tickets cost £5-£48 (discounts available). For bookings contact Symphony Hall Box Office: 0121 780 3333 or book on-line at www.thsh.co.uk (a £2 transaction fee is charged on all bookings except those made in person at the box office).
