Thomas Adès conducts Debussy, Adès & Simpson

Vienna Philharmonic / Igor Levit / Thomas Adès

The Vienna Philharmonic, pianist Igor Levit and conductor Thomas Adès: each of these names alone promises world class artistry. What kind of concert will be the outcome when the three performers join forces? The Austrian Standard wrote of the orchestra’s last concert with Levit that »they were not only on the same wavelength, they were literally surfing on a wave of energy«. For the Hamburg International Music Festival, they have put together a programme full of (positive!) surprises that is well off the beaten track. The classical prelude is a symphony by Joseph Haydn, followed by Thomas Adès’ piano concerto, which has already been performed around 60 times since its premiere in 2019 – a remarkable amount for a contemporary work. Given the fame that the multi-talented British composer enjoys, this success is hardly surprising. A New York Times critic wrote about the premiere of the concerto: »As ever, the craft is astounding, the orchestration ceaselessly brilliant. The voice is wholly his own — dissonant, offbeat, whiplash, wry — even as it whispers to musics past. This breathless concerto comes across as zesty and accessible. But don’t be fooled. Just below the surface, the music sizzles. I can’t wait to hear it again.« Adès, whose music is full of musical echoes from baroque to jazz yet refuses to follow any dogmas, sets the tone for the second half of the concert featuring Leoš Janácek, whose musical language around a century ago was equally undogmatic. His rhapsody »Taras Bulba« sets Nikolai Gogol’s tragic tale of the same name about a father and his two sons to music. So vividly that a film inevitably unfolds in the mind’s eye of the listener. By way of a prelude, two miniatures pay tribute to Pierre Boulez as the spotlighted composer of the International Music Festival.