Amid the shivering Easter eggs, Birmingham was eager for heat and sun. And the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra tried hard to provide them. The conductor, Diego Matheuz, came from Venezuela, while half the programme was Mexican, starting with Moncayo’s firecracker Huapango. The percussionists spread across the back row hardly had a bar off.
After that bright blaze, some sputtering. It started in the concert’s novelty, Enrico Chapela’s concerto MAGNETAR, co-commissioned by the CBSO and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and premiered by Gustavo Dudamel in 2011. Considering the title’s capital letters and the forces used (electric cello, electronics, orchestra), you’d