A masterpiece of our time, Coming Together, by Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021), combines a magnificent text by Sam Melville (murdered in Attica Prison, in New York, in 1971) and music, through the creative ingenuity of one of the most original artists of the 20th/21st century. In an unshakable current against social injustice, Rzewski uses a single melodic line, a vital pulsation that flourishes through the flexibility of improvisation, in an extraordinary intersection between the Medieval canon and the origins of Terry Riley’s minimalism. With an indomitable creative vortex, and citing its own music as well as celebrated musical compositions by Berlioz, Bizet and Richard Strauss, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 inspires its listener to reflect on violence, propaganda, elation and forced commemoration. This concert, which takes the form of a collective reflection, is celebrated by the incandescent energy of the Young Portuguese Orchestra (JOP), which acts as an ambassador for Portuguese talent in Europe and the rest of the world. Its members are young musicians, aged between 14 and 28, selected each year through auditions across Portugal (North, Centre, South, Azores and Madeira), without discrimination of academic background or financial capacity, to promote their expertise, training and introduction to the employment market.

Programme

Coming Together, Frederic Rzewski
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47, Dmitri Shostakovitch