The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is not only a cultural magnet, it’s also very much the pride of its home town in central England. The ensemble’s performances have absolute benchmark status all over the West Midlands. The orchestra owes its youthful esprit to its 31-year-old conductor Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla from Vilnius, who has close connections with Germany: she was discovered at the German Conductors’ Forum in Bonn in 2009.The violinist in tonight’s concert is Vilde Frang, who was likewise born in 1986 and has already worked with some of the world’s leading orchestras, her young age notwithstanding. The programme is nothing if not varied: Mozart’s »Magic Flute« overture is followed by music by Edward Elgar, who was himself conductor of the CBSO back in the 1920s.»Un sourire« is a wonderful piece by Olivier Messiaen, one of the central figures in modern classical music. The evening is brought to a close by a key work of impressionism (and an absolute audience favourite): Claude Debussy’s lyrical portrait of the ocean, »La mer«. read less