“Consider the concerto: It might be a 400-year-old formula…. But occasionally, a brand-new concerto arrives that offers old-fashioned thrills,” writes Tom Huizenga on Friday (2/28) at National Public Radio. “The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by the redoubtable British composer Thomas Adès … may be the most attractive concerto so far this century…. The piece premiered last year when the composer conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra with soloist Kirill Gerstein, for whom the concerto was written. A recording made from those live performances has just been released as Adès Conducts Adès…. The hummable opening theme has been compared to the syncopated phrases of Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm.’ … Adès says while it’s perverse for composers to write music that’s next to impossible to perform, he does admit, ‘I can’t resist things being astonishing.’ … The concerto is more than just razzle-dazzle virtuosity…. The music, like all great art, offers a journey…. Less than a year since its world premiere, the concerto has racked up another dozen performances, with 37 more on the books. Those are astonishing numbers for a brand new work…. Adès didn’t plan for a hit, but it looks like his concerto is quickly becoming exactly that.”
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