Portrait Thomas Adès
Even before he enrolled to study composition at the venerable King’s College, Cambridge, Thomas Adès was being talked about as the new wonder boy of contemporary music. Today, 30 years on, the British musician has long since become one of the most frequently-performed classical composers. His exceptionally wide stylistic range, which integrates influences from the Baroque to jazz, is much in demand by world-class orchestras from Berlin to Boston – not least because the accessibility of his works stands for a different, more audience-friendly view of New Music. Now the Elbphilharmonie is devoting a four-part portrait to Adès which shows several facets of this triply-gifted artist.
Thus Adès takes the rostrum to conduct the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and also plays the piano together with members of the orchestra in a chamber music ensemble. Then the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst performs his »Angel Symphony«, a suite taken from his third opera »The Exterminating Angel«, which enjoyed a successful premiere at the 2016 Salzburg Festival. And in February, Adès makes a guest appearance at the new festival »Elbphilharmonie Visions«, where he will conduct his own Piano Concerto.
