Continuing with the large number of commissions to celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Thursday marks the first of four performances of the world premiere of a piano concerto by John Adams. The concerto is titled Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? Gustavo Dudamel will lead the LA Phil with Yuja Wang at the piano.
The three-movement concerto is played straight through without pause. Must the Devil…, according to early reports, follows the fast-slow-fast structure commonly found in concerti. It is also reported that the concerto has been written to include bass guitar and a detuned honky tonk piano.
Adams, who holds the title of Creative Chair with the LA Phil, is a prolific composer who was just awarded the 2019 Erasmus Prize for his contributions to the arts. Amongst his compositions are El Niño, The Death of Klinghoffer, a violin concerto and two other piano concerti. Must the Devil…is his third.
On June 1st Adams will lead the LA Philharmonic New Music Group in an evening of five world premieres at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The LA Philharmonic has an upcoming tour that will showcase Must the Devil… with Wang again at the piano. Wang has been widely acclaimed for her dramatic playing style. She will return to the LA Phil for a performance of this work in July at the Hollywood Bowl. It will be interesting to see how her performance evolves with repeated performances.
The Walt Disney Concert Hall performances pair the concerto with Mahler’s 1st Symphony. Last week Dudamel lead the LA Phil in amazing performances of the composer’s 9th Symphony. He has proven himself to be a deeply passionate conductor of Mahler’s work.
But it is the Adams world premiere with Wang at the piano that makes these four performances Cultural Attaché’s Highlight of the Week.
Photo of Yuja Wang by Norbert Kniat/Courtesy of Kanzen Arts
Photo fo John Adams by Deborah O’Grady/Courtesy of Earbox.com