Thomas Adès – The Exterminating Angel Symphony; Violin Concerto
Leila Josefowicz; Minnesota Orchestra; Thomas Sondergard
Pentatone PCT 5187 487 (pentatonemusic.com/product/ades-the-exterminating-angel-symphony-violin-concerto)
Thomas Adès has had one of the more successful compositional careers in England for at least 25 years now, with compositions in all forms, including three operas. He has written many orchestral pieces in unconventional forms, and his style seems unpredictable, but always holds the attention with surprising musical gambits and constantly spectacular and very personal orchestration.
The Violin Concerto from 2005 has now been recorded at least three times, including an out-of-print EMI disc by violinist Anthony Marwood with the composer at the podium. This latest production, featuring the high-octane Canadian-born Leila Josephowicz accompanied by the under recorded Minnesota Orchestra with their new chef Thomas Søndergård, offers the most compelling treatment. Slightly faster, this performance fulfills the stratospheric demands of the score which are handled with quicksilver dexterity and a deft expertise by both soloist and orchestra.
The main work here is the debut recording of the symphony Adès has extracted from his last, phantasmagorical opera, commissioned by the Met: The Exterminating Angel inspired by the eponymous surrealist film by Louis Buñuel. This symphony provides a sampling of some of the tumultuous music from the opera. The first two movements are derived from the restless orchestral background score which evades and overwhelms the listener. The last movement ends up as an almost wild waltz. The orchestral performance and recording here are focussed and very clear in the orchestra’s famous unobtrusive acoustic. This enterprising, very successful disc heralds Pentatone’s arrival to record this group and their new conductor in the cleanest most direct sound. May they continue with the enterprising repertoire.
