Berliner Philharmoniker I

Thomas Adès managed to rise to the status of celebrated British star composer in record time and his works have delighted a broad audience of concertgoers. His concerto “Concentric Paths”, which was premiered in the Philharmonie’s Chamber Music Hall in 2005 as a co-commission by the Berliner Festspiele and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is one of the most popular contemporary violin concertos: an emotionally gripping work whose breakneck flights to the very top registers represent a mighty challenge to the soloist. Along with “Concentric Paths” with the Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto, the Berlin Philharmonic have also programmed the “Exterminating Angel Symphony” based on Adès’s successful opera of the same title, which was inspired by Luis Buñuel’s famous black and white surrealist film: extremely graphic music that includes obsessive marches, melancholy intermezzi and contortedly nostalgic waltzes. The programme goes on to include Gerald Barry’s orchestral piece “Chevaux-de-Frise”, whose title refers to defensive fortifications. This ironic reference is the Irish composer’s allusion to the Spanish armada of the 16th century that was severely affected by the primal forces of Irish nature. The evening opens with the complex rhythms of Hector Berlioz’s overture “Les Francs-juges”, which refers to the horrors of the medieval judiciary and, according to the composer, was inspired by a vision of “the fires of hell”.

Concert Programme

Hector Berlioz (1803 – 1869)
Overture for Les Francs-juges op. 3 (ca. 1828)

Thomas Adès (*1971)
Concentric Paths
Concerto for violin and orchestra op. 23 (2005)

Gerald Barry (*1952)
Chevaux-de-frise
for orchestra (1987)

Thomas Adès
The Exterminating Angel Symphony (2020)

Cast

Pekka Kuusisto violin

Berliner Philharmoniker
Thomas Adès conductor