»plastik & pastorale« - Beethoven’s 6th Symphony
A brook scene, a Beethoven selfie,
and a piano slowly sprouting a
forest – on stage and live on screen.
Ellen Ugelvik, Piano
Riccardo Minasi, Conductor
Ensemble Resonanz
Letycia Rossi & Clemens K. Thomas, Video Production
Evelina Dembacke, Live Video & Light
Clemens K. Thomas, Idea & Concept
Kristine Tjøgersen & Clemens K. Thomas, Dramaturgy
Program
Kristine Tjøgersen (*1982)
Piano Concerto (new version)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 6 F-Major op 68 »Pastorale«
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Beethoven in Dialogue with the Present
The Ensemble Resonanz, under the direction of Riccardo Minasi, approaches Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony – his lyrical homage to landscapes and rural life – with contemporary ears: listening, commenting, questioning. Between its movements, excerpts from Kristine Tjøgersen’s acclaimed 2019 concerto for piano, live camera, and orchestra – newly reimagined for this project – are interwoven.
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The Norwegian composer Kristine Tjøgersen, recently awarded the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Composers’ Prize, draws inspiration from the hidden sounds of forests. Yet her aim is not to imitate nature, but to explore imaginative spaces that resonate with today’s ecological realities. Her concerto, both acoustically and visually striking, becomes a moving plea for fragile ecosystems without lapsing into sentimental nostalgia.
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At the piano, Ellen Ugelvik animates this sonic landscape while gradually transforming the instrument itself: miniature trees appear on and inside the grand piano, projected live onto a large screen. In this way, sound and image intertwine, turning the instrument into a metaphorical terrain.
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»The connections between the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity are complex, and political responses so far have been hesitant. Can Beethoven’s Pastoral still be programmed in a way that truly engages with today’s destruction of nature? No! The Pastoral idealizes nature, presenting it merely as a construct. The reality of human-driven climate change is absent – and it is precisely this absence that makes us feel it!« (Clemens K. Thomas, dramaturgy)