On the piano, as soloist, was the extraordinary virtuosity of Vasco Dantas, a portuguese with just 23 years old, who started playing the piano at the age of 4 and had his first public concert at the age of 6!… In fact, if the exquisite performance of the “Orquestra Sinfónica de Cascais” had enchanted us, Vasco Dantas snatched loud applause, having toasted us and the orchestra, just before the interval, with his own arrangement of the famous theme “Happy Birthday To You”, commemorating the first anniversary of this Simphony Orchestra.
Vasco Dantas: a name to remember! One huge talent to support!
It has become normal the overcrowding for the Orquestra Sinfónica de Cascais concerts. And still good, because there we see the proof that this ambicious cultural project is being successfully developing and it was the right decision to found and support it, in a period when we see very few (or none) supportings to the Arts and Cultural events in general.
It was sold out, indeed, on Saturday evening, 5th of March 2016, the audience of the Auditório da Senhora da Boa Nova, in Galiza (Cascais – Lisbon), to enjoy the “Concerto da Primavera” (Spring Concert), with a programme including very famous works of two «emblematic Russian composers»: the “Piano Concerto no.2 in C minor – op.18”, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), composed between the Autumn of 1900 and April of 1901; and the “Symphony no.4, in F major – op.36”, by Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), composed between March and December of 1877.
On the piano, as soloist, was the extraordinary virtuosity of Vasco Dantas, a portuguese with just 23 years old, who started playing the piano at the age of 4 and had his first public concert at the age of 6!… In fact, if the exquisite performance of the “Orquestra Sinfónica de Cascais” had enchanted us, Vasco Dantas snatched loud applause, having toasted us and the orchestra, just before the interval, with his own arrangement of the famous theme “Happy Birthday To You”, commemorating the first anniversary of this Simphony Orchestra.
Vasco Dantas: a name to remember! One huge talent to support!
The Symphony no.4 from Tchaikovsky, just listening to it to talk about it! Even a layperson can understand it is of an extreme difficult playing, demanding from each orchestra section a great dominance of technique and art, because of the necessary and strict sensibility to the timings and sound modulations. It delights us the 3rd movement – scherzo, pizzicato ostinato – when the violins play not with the bow but with the fingers, for the pizzicato, with maximum attention and high performance accuracy. The contrast comes in the end, allegro con fuoco, with lots of enthusiasm, where the playings by the tuba, the horns, the trompets and the trombones stand out, actively emphazied by the percussion and well accompanied by the bassons (incredible the performances of Catherine Stockwell and Tiago Paraíso!).
The musicians greeted each others efusively, in the end of the performance. And, like them, we felt, in fact, that… the evening was very worth and that we had participated in something – sorry for the adjective – genious!
© Cyber Jornal
By José d’Encarnação