Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, which the composer arranged in 1919 from his own music for the 1909 ballet, was the headline work in a programme of early to mid-20th century music that also included works by George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel and Florence Price.

The orchestra under the clear and elegant direction of guest conductor Alexander Shelley (pictured) delivered a foot tappingly glorious performance of the Stravinsky masterwork that was full of colour and vitality. The programme notes alone are enough to imagine the fairy tale of a firebird aiding in the defeat of an ogre who has imprisoned thirteen princesses, forced to dance until they are exhausted.

An eerily slow repetitive rhythmical introduction on the double basses had you imagining the ogre’s lair before the arrival of a prince on solo horn and the firebird on strings and woodwind.

The orchestra brought out the subtle differences in scales that distinguish the mythical from the human. The audience was visibly startled when the start of the Infernal Dance, imposed on the ogre, was announced by a chord so loud that it sounded like a thunderbolt. The Firebird then weaved its way to a thrilling full orchestra climax that brought rapturous applause.

It was music inspired by the City of Light that opened the concert, with the CBSO giving a lively and thoroughly entertaining performance of Gershwin’s An American in Paris composed in 1928.
The piece inspired the Hollywood movie of the same name with Gene Kelly and, even if you hadn’t seen it, you could easily imagine the sights and sounds of the city Gershwin loved on his walks in the singsong rhythms and his homesickness for America in the bluesy melodies.

There was a further bluesy element in a work by an until recently-neglected composer. Florence Price was the first Black American to have her music premiered by a top US orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, but her Violin Concerto No 2 composed in 1952, the year before she died, was among other works considered lost until its discovery by accident during renovation of her summer house.
The lusciously melodic work marked the CBSO debut of Korean violinist Hyeyoon Park (front pic), who played the piece as beautifully and as passionately as her stunning sleeveless scarlet gown.

Park returned to bring out the rich harmonies in Price’s Adoration, a four-minute piece for solo violin and strings that would easily have served as an encore. Originally composed for the organ in church services, this devotional work sounded as languid and soothing as its name.

It was another short devotional work, this time by Ravel, which completed the programme. His Le Tombeau (tomb) de Couperin of 1917 honoured not just the 18th century composer Francois Couperin but also three friends who died during the First World War. The CBSO ensured the music, in its contradictory way, bubbled with colour and harmony as it built to a gloriously optimistic conclusion as Ravel – who commented that “the dead are sad enough in their eternal silence” – would have wanted.

The CBSO and CBSO Chorus will perform The Creation by Joseph Haydn at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, February 26th at Symphony Hall. For tickets call 0121 780 3333 or book online at cbso.co.uk.