Mendelssohn’s Symphony N.º 3 is known as the ‘Scottish’ because it was inspired by a trip the composer made to that country when he was just twenty years old. But don’t expect bagpipes or traditional Highland music. Instead of rustic melodies, as in the ‘Italian’ Symphony, the work unfolds on an epic scale, seeking to echo the grandeur of a sixteenth-century palace. This programme also revives Frederico de Freitas’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, which premiered in 1956 at the former Cinema Império, performed by the flautist Luís Boulton, with the composer himself conducting the Orquestra da Emissora Nacional. It now falls to Nuno Inácio, the OML’s principal flautist, to recreate the stylistic eclecticism of a work that demands great technical skill, plenty of soul and a touch of irreverence.
Escocesa de Mendelssohn
Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Frederico de Freitas Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
F. Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, Scottish
Soloist Nuno Inácio flute
Andrés Salado conductor
