The story goes that Paganini commissioned Berlioz to write him a concerto. Rather than a composition filled with the violin fireworks he expected, Berlioz handed him Harold en Italie, an introspective lyrical work for viola and orchestra. After a cursory glance, Paganini refused to perform it. Then, upon hearing its premier, he recognized an extraordinary artistic value in it and apologized to Berlioz. Brian Lindgren’s exploration of the viola’s expressive potential seems to follow a similar narrative: after a career of performing the celebrated viola parts of concerti, symphonies and string quartets, unknown expressive possibilities unleashed by the digital revolution led Brian to build an electric viola and write/record his own music for it as a researcher and PhD student in the Music Composition and Computer Technologies program at the University of Virginia. Come welcome Brian to our show, together with special guest, composer, performer & electronic instrument luthier, Reyes Oteo, and get to know a whole new world of expressive possibilities!
Vienna Live with Simeon Morrow - Weekly interactive Show 