Sibelius & Dvořák, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 03 April 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.

Photo Credit: Joss McKinley.

Sibelius & Dvořák, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 03 April 2025,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.

“Some charming Arvo Pärt, dazzling Sebelius, and perfectly formed Dvořák.”

Arvo Pärt, Our Garden (Cantata for Children’s Chorus and Orchestra) 

Sibelius, Violin Concerto

Dvořák, Symphony No.8 

Introducing the first item in the programme, Arvo Pärt’s My Garden, conductor, Dinis Sousa explained that the work might not be what we have come to expect from this composer. Indeed, it is a light piece, full of melody, bold orchestral colour and artful simplicity. The CBSO Youth Chorus, aided and abetted by the CBSO, delivered a charming performance, with a well-blended sound, exceptionally clear diction, clean attack and plenty of telling detail. Balance with the orchestra was always perfect. Occasionally one did wonder whether a choir of such well developed, young, elite voices was what Pärt had in mind for a work of such self-conscious naivety. But it was hard to resist such singing of this quality.

The next work in the programme came as a complete contrast. Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is a rich and powerful work, full of very mature emotion. Violinist, Alina Ibragimova, playing with a complex, smoky tone, seemed at times to be wringing the sound from her violin: so intense was the commitment of her performance. Ibragimova is an interpreter not afraid to push the timbre of her instrument to the limit, and she delivered a performance fearlessly extreme in the brilliance of its virtuosity, and in the range of emotions explored.

This was not easy listening; her reading took us to some very dark places during the first two movements. A ravishing, anguished, and at times quite harrowing Adagio, gave way, almost reluctantly, to the dance-like final movement, where Ibragimova pulled out all the technical stops building to a dazzling conclusion. Excellent work from woodwind and brass at the start of this final movement characterised a tight and responsive performance from the CBSO. And this is a work where the orchestra does so much more than simply accompany.

The second part of the evening should have started to with Sibelius’ Finlandia. This had mysteriously slipped off the programme. No one seemed to know quite why. But to lose a whole tone poem seems like carelessness. Instead, Sousa took us straight into the life-affirming joy of Dvořák’s 8th Symphony. This composer surely has to be one of the great symphonic craftsmen, and Sousa led the orchestra through a perfectly crafted performance. Everything slotted smoothly together like a piece of marquetry. But, for all its good humour, it was not a reading without weight and emotional import.

In lieu of the lost Finlandia, we got an encore, a Dvořák Legend. A nice enough piece, but not really a fair exchange.

Dinis Sousa – Conductor

Alina Ibragimova - Violin