In Beethoven’s music, we can recognize atmospheres that are as spring-like and humorous as they are tragic, moving or rebellious. Much also depends on the mood of the listener, since music doesn’t claim to represent specific contexts and characters in the same way as an oil painting. After all, how can an orchestra, for example, portray a sunny afternoon spent by a stream? What about a summer storm? The Pastoral Symphony answers questions like these. With vague sound allegories, it expresses feelings and bucolic scenarios that awaken that imagination which, ideally, resonates with everyone’s own life experiences. In a similar exercise, but with very contrasting sounds, percussionist Rodrigo Azevedo plays a concert by Michael Daugherty that pays tribute to the imagination of those who dream up new worlds. It all starts with Leonardo da Vinci, and ends with Mr. Spock – from the cult series Star Trek.
Spring Concert
Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra
M. Daugherty Dreamachine, concerto for percussion and orchestra
L. v. Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Pastoral
Soloist Rodrigo Azevedo percussion
Paul Daniel conductor
