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SCO Principal Double Bass Nikita Naumov playing his instrument in front of a bright green background with dark green and light pink shapes.

Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Symphony

Mark Wigglesworth Conductor
Nikita Naumov Double bass

From chirruping birds and babbling brooks to a kaleidoscopic cosmic lightshow – the power of nature pulses through this electrifying concert directed by energetic British conductor Mark Wigglesworth.

Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony is a hymn of wonder and gratitude to the natural world, combining captivating nature portraits with sounds to move and inspire.

Hungarian-born Péter Eötvös surrounds the audience with music in his ravishing Aurora, dreamt up while contemplating the Northern Lights aboard a plane high above Alaska. The SCO’s own Principal Double Bass Nikita Naumov – a deeply charismatic player – is Aurora’s expressive soloist. Wigglesworth launches the celestial explorations with US composer Aaron Jay Kernis’s otherworldly evocation of the songs of angels.

*Commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Tongyeong International Music Festival

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