Myth and Magic – Thomas Adès

Threads of the past are woven into a radiant future in four ingenious compositions, presented by Thomas Adès, Anne-Sophie Mutter and the LSO.

The Programme

Stravinsky didn’t attend the premiere of Agon on his 75th birthday, worried that audiences wouldn’t like his new direction. But the composer’s final ballet was greeted with shouts and whistles, its bracing music compared to Champagne. It’s a cool and considered triumph which melds together ingredients from Baroque to jazz with its choreographer George Balanchine stating ‘sounds like this have not been heard before’.

Lutosławski’s delicate Partita also ushers a jazz-like quality and Adès’ arching Air acts as an ‘extended aria’ giving Mutter the freedom to burst through the orchestra and skip like a stone into an icy Finnish lake.

Like Agon, Orpheus was a balletic collaboration between Stravinsky and choreographer Balanchine. Orpheus’ traditional lyre becomes a harp in Stravinsky’s elegant presentation of the Greek legend.

The Performers

His music shapes the sound of the present moment, and Thomas Adès presents a much-anticipated UK premiere in this concert. Air was co-commissioned by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom Lutosławski’s Partita was also written.

Why do we need composers? It’s a compulsion. I have no choice. There is an image in my head which to me is completely real.’ – Thomas Adès

Header Image © Monika Höfler