Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony

When Beethoven wanted to unwind, he headed for the countryside, and with its birdsong, its mountain streams and its summer storms, there’s still no better example of a composer in harmony with nature than his lovely ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. Add the world’s favourite violin concerto, played by Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, and you could hardly ask for more melody in a single concert. But nature is nothing if not dynamic, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s CATAMORPHOSIS is charged with all the brooding, volcanic power of her native Iceland.