Page 133 - FINAL_CBSO Media Highlights - Sept 2021 - Jan 2022_Neat
P. 133
10 December 2021
FIRST NIGHT | CONCERT
CBSO/Madaras review — a moving
new work by Jonathan Dove is born
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Rebecca Franks
Gergely Madaras did a wonderful job conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s UK premiere of In Exile
BEKI SMITH/CBSO
★★★★☆
Unknown. Unnamed. Untouchable. About two thirds of the way through In Exile Jonathan Dove
sets a list of 19 “un” words. They are words that dehumanise. Words attached to the nameless
exile at the heart of this piece. “Unknown” floats up, wistfully. “Unnamed” falls into the depths.
“Untouchable” snarls with fury. It’s a powerful sequence in a moving new piece from the
British composer, commissioned by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of its
centenary celebrations, and surely bound to have a life beyond its UK premiere.
In Exile has many strengths. Coherence is chief among them. The piece sits somewhere between
a song cycle, an operatic scena and a cello concerto. One person is represented by two soloists:
