CANCELLED: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester / Gerstein / Adès

Thomas Adès is a man of records. He was only 27 when he was apppointed professor an der Royal Academy of Music in his native London; in 2000 he became the youngest composer to date to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, and the 2019 premiere of his piano concerto no. 2 was followed by some 50 more performances in the space of a year. Quite an achievement! It goes without saying that the celebrated British musician is a must at the new modern music festival »Elbphilharmonie Visions«.

Adès is coming to Hamburg in a double role as composer and conductor. He leads the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in person in the piano concerto whose mix of classical and jazz styles already brought it eager praise at the premiere in Boston. »It has a quality that no-one has reached since Prokofiev and Ravel«, enthuses pianist Kirill Gerstein, who played the solo part at the first performance and will be at the piano in Hamburg, too.

In addition, Adès conducts the symphonic composition »Mural«, written by his Spanish colleague Francisco Mural for a huge body of instruments (first performance: 2016 in Luxemburg), and the Fifth Symphony by Danish composer Poul Ruders. Adhering to tradition, this work opens with a lively first movement, followed by an introverted second movement and a danceful finale. Traditional though this structure may be, the unique sound of the music betrays that the symphony was first performed in 2015.