PONS VAROLII is a work by the pianist and composer Simão Costa. A dialogue between the piano, a 21st-century orchestra and the SOUND produced by vehicles on the 25 de Abril Bridge, making its world premiere at the São Luiz Theatre.
PONS (bridge, from Latin), an architectural archetype. PONS VAROLII is part of what is known as the reptilian brain, the oldest and most primitive part of the human brain, focused on survival, basic instincts (hunger, thirst, aggression) and vital functions such as breathing and the heartbeat in humans and mammals. The PONS VAROLII acts as a bridge between these functions and the parts of the cerebral cortex.
This work celebrates the freedom we have and that which is yet to come, whilst also marking the 60th anniversary of a bridge that was once called Salazar and is now known as 25 de Abril.
A tribute to freedom and the need to forge links between shores. In a world that appears deeply polarised, where we feel marginalised from one another, bridges and freedom are more than a necessity — they are an essential daily practice, a gesture of enjoying a free society that wishes to remain so.
Without forgetting our instincts and seeking healthy cortical functions, the piano and the classical orchestra engage in a dialogue as symbols of a predominantly rationalist Western culture, in symbiosis with the acoustic and visual ecology of the 25 de Abril Bridge — reminding us of the importance of listening and the body as the basis for understanding our earthly reality.
Sound recordings transformed into musical scores, and film footage accompanying the concert, directed by guest director Mário Melo Costa.
Pons Varolii Project
Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Music by Simão Costa
Pedro Neves conductor
