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Thomas Adès Tours his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Igor Levit and the Vienna Philharmonic

Jun. 30, 2025

From May 27-29, Thomas Adès joined Igor Levit and the Vienna Philharmonic for performances of his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus, and MÜPA Budapest alongside music by Boulez, Janáček, Kurtág, and Haydn.

The Concerto’s three movements follow a traditional pattern. The Allegramente contrasts a rhythmic first theme with a more expressive second subject. A glowering chorale from woodwinds and brass introduces the Andante gravemente, before the searching melody that ensues in the piano strives for an effusive climax. The Allegro giojoso finale begins with a call to arms that precipitates a burlesque canon. The piano then takes up a tumbling melody “in the style of a ball bouncing down stairs”, as Adès puts it, which then winds down before falling off another precipice and tripping towards a joyful conclusion.

Adès made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 2022, conducting Totentanz, the 2013 piece for baritone, mezzo-soprano and orchestra inspired by a medieval frieze, alongside music by Berg and Ravel. His performances in Vienna were part of the subscription series at the Musikverein and celebrated by critics.

Adès has conducted numerous performances of the Concerto, most often with Kirill Gerstein as soloist, who has given over fifty performances of the work to date and recorded the Concerto with the Boston Symphony and the composer in 2019. In March 2025, he and Adès gave the Canadian premiere of the work; they have previously presented the piece with the Chicago Symphony, Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bavarian Radio, and Helsinki Philharmonic.

In the 2025/26 season, the Concerto will appear with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra; in August Adès and Gerstein present the piece at the San Sebastián and Ravel Festivals with the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris.


Kirill Gerstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform the first movement of Thomas Adès's
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra under the composer's baton

To learn more about Thomas Adès, visit fabermusic.com.

Thomas Adès
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2018)
for piano and orchestra
3(3.pic+afl).3(3.eh).3(I in Bb, II in A, III in Bb=bcl).3(3.cbsn)-4.2.3.1-timp+roto tom-3perc: glsp/xyl/bass.mar/4 tuned gongs/2 susp.cym/choke susp.cym/siz.cym/small crash.cym/cast/wdbl/small tamb/large c/bell(or reco-reco)/guero/2 or more whips/tam-t/SD/BD (with mounted cym – machine)-strings
22'

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