Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla is today’s shooting star on the classical music scene. In February 2016, at just 30 years old, the Lithuanian-born conductor was unanimously selected by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) to be their Music Director; succeeding Andris Nelsons and Sir Simon Rattle,

How did Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla succeed in breaking into one of the last male dominated domains? Will she meet the challenges of the CBSO?  These and other questions will be answered in the portrait “Going for the Impossible”.

The centrepiece of the inaugural concert is the song cycle Let me tell you by Danish composer Hans Abrahmansen, commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker and dedicated to soprano Barbara Hannigan, who performed it. The award-winning song cycle about Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is solely made up of the 481 words used by the character in Hamlet. The Guardian called the piece “ravishingly and astonishingly beautiful”. In the second half of the concert, Mirga and the CBSO vividly explore Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fourth Symphony.

“The only thing that could stop me is the power of my own imagination.” – Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

“The musicality of the new director of the CBSO becomes evident within 30 seconds of her raising her baton.” – The Times

Contents:
- City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Inaugural Concert
- Going for the Impossible: A Portrait by Daniela Schmidt-Langels

Picture: 16:9 – NTSC
Sound: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1
Language/subtitles Doc: English, German
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 98 mins Concert, 54 mins Documentary
Production: 2016/2017