SACDs - Adams, J

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony release two works by John Adams: Harmonielehre which was commissioned, premiered and recorded by SFS in 1985; and Short Ride in a Fast Machine, commissioned by Tilson Thomas prior to his becoming Music Director of SFS in 1995.

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) release the latest in their award-winning catalogue of recordings with two works by John Adams, a composer indelibly associated with the orchestra: Harmonielehre, one of the composer's earliest orchestral works which was commissioned, premiered and recorded by SFS in 1985; and Short Ride in a Fast Machine, commissioned by MTT prior to his becoming Music Director of SFS in 1995. In keeping with the high-end quality of the MTT-SFS releases on their own SFS Media label, this recording is released in the Hybrid SACD format.

Harmonielehre is one of Adams’ early bold statements, blending elements of classical, jazz, rock and minimalism, and American and European influences. MTT, who conducted the work during his first season as SFS Music Director in 1995 and multiple times since, said of the work, “When a new piece is premiered, it can make a stunning impression. But the real story of that piece is what emerges over time. When the SFS first performed Harmonielehre in the mid-80s it was a life changing moment for everybody who heard it… now, decades later, the piece still stands up.”

Of Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Adams recalls, “For some reason a connection with Cape Cod came to mind. Years before [the commission] I had been there with a former brother in-law and he had asked me at about 1 in the morning if I would like to take a ride with him in his Lamborghini. I did and once he started up I wished I hadn’t because he drove very, very fast. The idea of a piece that had that combination of excitement and thrill and was just on the edge of anxiety or terror was the motivating force.”

This release joins the highly-acclaimed, best-selling MTT-SFS catalogue, which includes their outstanding cycle of Mahler’s orchestral works and songs, the Keeping Score series of DVDs and Blu-Rays, and more recent releases of works by Beethoven, Copland and Ives.

This album features the programme performed by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of its Carnegie Hall debut. It was a triumphant occasion and was the highlight of the Spring of Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. The New Yorker reported the concert as “one of the most gripping events of the season.”

This new recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano bears the title “Transmigration”, and is a collection of hymns and requiems for those we wish to honour and remember.

The featured pieces are Samuel Barber’s universal expressions of loss, “Adagio for Strings” and the vocal transcription “Agnus Dei”, John Corigliano’s “Elegy” to lost youth, Jennifer Higdon’s setting of poetry about Abraham Lincoln, “Dooryard Bloom”, and John Adams’s reflection of personal grief for the victims of the World Trade Centre tragedy on September 11, 2001, “On the Transmigration of Souls”. The ASO is joined on this piece by the Gwinnett Young singers and the soloist in “Dooryard Bloom” is the baritone Nmon Ford.

Robert Spano is recognised internationally as one of the brightest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. His achievements include a 2005 Grammy Award (“Best Choral Album”) for Berlioz’s Requiem and two 2003 Grammy Awards (“Best Classical Album” and “Best Choral Album”) for Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony.