It’s a cliché, but it’s true: music simply sounds better in Symphony Hall! So what better way to experience Birmingham’s world-beating concert hall than with a piece that’s designed to show every sound of a full symphony orchestra, from the softest of whispers to the full, spine-tingling, roof-raising blast? The rustling of pine-needles, the splashing of fountains, the shouts and songs of carnival season: in Ottorino Respighi’s home city of Rome, everything seems to make music, and this rare performance of his complete “Roman Trilogy” sweeps from the silence of dawn to the raw, unbridled hedonism of the Roman Empire at its height. Kazuki Yamada is our guide today – but first, he joins the award-winning Vilde Frang in Shostakovich’s film noir thriller of a Violin Concerto: music that’s haunting, heartbreaking, and bold enough to take your breath away.

These concerts have been made possible with generous support from the Rachel Baker Memorial Charity and Jerry Sykes.