Elgar's Cello Concerto

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are at Symphony Hall on Wednesday 2 December, with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and conductor Christoph Koncz. It's a three-work programme that runs from Weinberg's Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes through Elgar's Cello Concerto to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10.

There's a thread running through the choices. The CBSO frame the evening as a meditation on loss, yearning and the resilience of the human spirit. Weinberg's Rhapsody is a tribute to his father's country of birth, built from folk songs that range from solemn melodies to vibrant dances. Elgar's Cello Concerto is autumnal and haunting, written in the shattered aftermath of the First World War and often heard as an elegy for a lost world. Then comes Shostakovich's Tenth, which spends much of its time as a howl of anguish — or perhaps a cathartic release following the death of Stalin — before its final blast breaks into a moment of spectacular triumph.

If you want to get a bit more into the music before the concert, there's a free, unticketed 'In conversation' talk at 6pm in the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, with CBSO cellist Helen Edgar and soloist Alisa Weilerstein. It's a good chance to hear the two of them talk through the programme before the main event starts.

The concert begins at 7:00pm and runs for about two hours, with a 20-minute interval. Tickets are £27.50 to £65.50, and a £4 per-ticket commission is included in every ticket priced over £15.