Beethoven & Puccini, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham | 17 April 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray
Beethoven & Puccini
CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham | 17 April 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray
“Some Puccini opera scores viewed from an unusual angle and a technically tight Beethoven Concerto.”
Rossini – La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie): Overture
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 1
Puccini (arr. Rizzi) – Tosca: Symphonic Suite
Puccini (arr. Rizzi) – Madam Butterfly: Symphonic Suite
Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie Overture is always a delight. The CBSO, under the guiding baton of conductor Carlo Rizzi, approached it with vigour, clean attack and tight ensemble to deliver a punchy, characterful reading.
There were moments when the textures were perhaps a little too dense; not allowing space for all of the detail to come through. In particular - and these are words you will hear used rarely and never carelessly - I could have done with a bit more trombone! Nothing says ‘buffo’ quite like one of Rossini’s mad trombone passages. More mad trombone please!!
Rizzi gave the orchestral opening passage of Beethoven’s 1st piano concerto a more calibrated textural approach. Given the size of the orchestral forces at play, all of the instrumental lines were given space to breathe and develop in a surprisingly light and delicate reading.
Stepping in at the last moment to replace the scheduled soloist, Benjamin Grosvenor arrived on the scene in bold, muscular fashion. He is a powerful player with significant presence. For a while, Grosvenor’s more forceful take on the work seemed at odds with Rizzi’s more classical interpretation. Some of the handovers between soloist and orchestra could have been cleaner; placing of orchestral details a little more precise.
Things settled as the work progressed, with the orchestra giving more tone. The movement developed convincingly. Any slight disconnect between soloist and band had disappeared in the exquisitely played Largo. Here, beautifully shaped lines flowed seamlessly between soloist and band to ravishing effect. The technically brilliant final Rondo was a mutual expression of exuberant joy.
Rizzi’s Symphonic Suites based on Puccini operas seem to be, on the face of it, a bold concept; Puccini without the voices?! In the event, both suites worked very well indeed, perhaps because they are more through-composed tone poems than suites. Rizzi does not present the music in narrative order but draws freely on the material to create something that makes musical sense.
In the absence of voices, we still get all the big melodies. Also, because Puccini’s uses distinctive intervallic motifs to unity his thematic material, Rizzi’s arrangements capitalize on this, so that everything feels integrated and organic.
Clearly the CBSO enjoyed taking the music out of the pit and putting it on the stage, making the most of Puccini’s expansive and emotionally compelling sound world.
Carlo Rizzi – Conductor
Benjamin Grosvenor - Piano