Andris Nelsons conducts Turnage’s Kai

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Broad Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B1 2EA
United Kingdom
0121 200 2000
symphonyhall@necgroup.co.uk

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

For the second time in our 2010/11 season Birmingham Contemporary Music Group performs Turnage’s cello concerto Kai. This heartfelt requiem to a friend who died young, was originally composed for BCMG and our cellist Ulrich Heinen, who gave its world premiere in 1990.

Following Sir Simon Rattle’s invitation to join CBSO as principal cellist, Ulrich cofounded BCMG in 1987. In 2011 he retires from the Orchestra, the perfect context for him to take centre stage in this joint CBSO/BCMG concert conducted by CBSO Music Director Andris Nelsons.

Kai will be performed before Mahler’s Ninth Symphony as part of the season’s Birmingham Mahler Cycle. Composed whilst Mahler was struggling with heart disease, stricken by the loss of a child and tormented by love for his young wife, his final completed symphony is one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful compositions of the twentieth century and a defining work of its time.

Free pre-concert talk with novelist, journalist and blogger Jessica Duchen – 6.15pm.

Mark-Anthony Turnage : Kai (BCMG commission 1990)
Gustav Mahler : Symphony No. 9