New York Philharmonic / Alan Gilbert

New York Stories: John Adams

This concert has already taken place! 12 | 30 | 55 | 80 | 95
This concert has already taken place! 12 | 30 | 55 | 80 | 95
Alan Gilbert
Alan Gilbert © Chris Lee
  • Doors open 19:00

  • Start 20:00

  • End ca. 22:00

Description

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic are a world-class combination. »The orchestra is playing better under Gilbert than ever before« – thus the enthusiastic review in »New Yorker« magazine. On their European tour together – the last one with Alan Gilbert as chief conductor – they present works by the American composer John Adams, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday.

On the one hand, the programme features Adams’s highly-regarded symphony »Harmonielehre« (1985), whose title refers to the music theory textbook of the same name by Arnold Schoenberg. In the work, Adams interweaves Schoenbergian harmonic sequences and Wagnerian Late Romanticism with soundscapes à la Sibelius and post-minimalistic rhythms. He was inspired to create this wild mixture by two surreal dreams he had: in one, an oil tanker in San Francisco Bay shot straight up out of the water like a rocket, and in the other his daughter flew through space on the shoulders of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart.

The other piece on this evening’s programme is Adams’s 25-minute »Absolute Jest« (2010), which the composer himself refers to as a »mega-scherzo«. This work has an extremely innovative scoring, with the symphonic sound of a full orchestra being contrasted with the slender structures of a string quartet. As far as the musical material is concerned, Adams works many different quotes from the oeuvre of Beethoven into »Absolute Jest«.

The composer will give an introductory talk at the beginning of the concert.

Performers

New York Philharmonic

Frank Huang violin

Sheryl Staples violin

Cynthia Phelps viola

Carter Brey violoncello

conductor Alan Gilbert

John Adams talk

Programme

John Adams
Absolute Jest für Streichquartett und Orchester

– Interval –

John Adams
Harmonielehre

Mit einem Einführungsgespräch des Komponisten zu Beginn des Konzerts

Subscription

Elbphilharmonie for Connoisseurs

Series

Orchester zu Gast / Visiting Orchestras

Festival

New York Stories

Promoter: HamburgMusik / ProArte

During your visit

The Music of Tomorrow

Artist talks, rehearsal and concert visits for school pupils

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Elbphilharmonie Plaza

A public viewing platform on the 8th floor of the Elbphilharmonie

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Food and Drink

Before the concert and in the interval

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Coughing, clapping, chatting

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