Already one of Britain's most prominent composers, Thomas Adès has also made an impact as a conductor and pianist. Here listeners can sample his talents in both realms. He has paired Beethoven in performance with the music of composer Gerald Barry; Barry is represented by a pair of works. It may be a little hard to pin down the connection Adès feels between these two composers, but there's an explicit link: Barry offers a work called Beethoven, with text drawn from the letter the composer penned to his so-called "Immortal ...
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Already one of Britain's most prominent composers, Thomas Adès has also made an impact as a conductor and pianist. Here listeners can sample his talents in both realms. He has paired Beethoven in performance with the music of composer Gerald Barry; Barry is represented by a pair of works. It may be a little hard to pin down the connection Adès feels between these two composers, but there's an explicit link: Barry offers a work called Beethoven, with text drawn from the letter the composer penned to his so-called "Immortal Beloved." It's not the romantic or tortured setting one might expect, but rather a raspy, abrupt treatment, and it's quite absorbing. Barry's Piano Concerto, reminiscent of Stravinsky in an unusually argumentative mood, is perfectly suited to Adès' talents as a pianist with its rapid-fire sharp exchanges between piano and orchestra, calming only at the end. As for the first three Beethoven symphonies, the beginning of a cycle from Adès and the Britten Sinfonia, they succeed in making...
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