Kazuki Conducts Strauss, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 10 December 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
Kazuki Conducts Strauss, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 10 December 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆.
Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“A feast of gorgeous Richard Strauss.”
Strauss – Death and Transfiguration
Strauss – Oboe Concerto
Strauss – Also sprach Zarathustra
This was an emotionally charged evening for the CBSO, and for many in the audience, as this was the last concert with the orchestra for long-serving lead ‘cello, Eduardo Vassallo. Eduardo – “Edu” - is a much loved and respected figure who will be greatly missed for the quality of his playing, and for the humour & warmth of his personality. The orchestra gave him a suitable send off, playing at the top of their game in a concert of music by Richard Strauss.
When it comes to Strauss, you expect to hear an orchestra being put through its paces. Strauss’ tone poem, the richly scored Death and Transfiguration is very much a case in point. Strauss asked his friend, Alexander Ritter to provide a narrative. For this performance, an external explanatory text seemed surplus to requirement.
CBSO Musical Director, Kazuki Yamada’s reading clearly and directly communicated the simple, yet profound story of an artist’s death and spiritual transformation. This was a beautifully shaped and well paced performance that pulsated towards a transcendent climax. The orchestra responded to Yamada as one, playing with translucent textural clarity.
In contrast to the massive forces employed in his tone poems, Strauss scored his Oboe Concerto for, in effect, a chamber orchestra. The sound-world is reminiscent of his opera Ariadne auf Naxos. In terms of musical language, the work seems to pay homage to the Classical era, specifically Mozart, and particularly in the Andante.
Former CBSO player, and now lead oboe in the Berlin Philharmonic, soloist, Jonathan Kelly clearly relished this movement. Kelly’s pure, uncluttered tone soared out of the texture, and his exquisite, elongated, lyrical lines floated effortlessly out over the audience. His familiarity with the acoustic was clear; he played it.
This is an intimate work, a true conversational piece, possibly a flirtation, but certainly not an argument. The interplay between band and soloist was exemplary. Conductor, Yamada brought out all of the detail in the score and injected a certain impish charm into the glittering outer movements. Kelly delivered all the difficult mood shifts with dazzling virtuosity.
The opening of Also sprach Zarathustra is probably one of the most culturally embedded musical moments in all of Western Art, and it is a shame the rest of the work is not more often performed. Perhaps the gargantuan orchestral forces involved is a barrier. The ten disparate sections of the work might easily become episodic. However, Yamada concentrated on thematic linkages to meld the piece into a fluid, integrated whole. Again, the orchestra played with unity of purpose and technical brilliance. And dear, lead ‘cellist, Edu enjoyed a last, beautifully played moment in the sun.
Kazuki Yamada – Conductor
Jonathan Kelly - Oboe