British artist will be featured as a composer, pianist and curator in a wide range of works. ‘He is a towering figure in music,’ says SummerFest Music Director Inon Barnatan
When SummerFest Music Director Inon Barnatan this year invited one of the world’s most versatile and in-demand composers — who’s also a world-touring conductor and dynamic pianist — Barnatan wanted to let all of his talents shine.
Boston Symphony Orchestra Artistic Partner Thomas Adès — who recently conducted his own score of The Dante Project ballet at the Paris Opera — will serve as the composer-in-residence for SummerFest 2023. He will curate his own concert and will be featured as a pianist in three other concerts next week.
“Thomas Adès is such a towering figure in music,” said Barnatan, who based two of his piano solo recordings around the composer’s work. “I’m just so thrilled that he’s coming and that we can really show him off as the three-dimensional musician he is.”
Adès’ week will culminate next Sunday with his Takeover at The JAI concert, which he is curating in the intimate venue across the courtyard from the Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center.
The takeover program will include two pieces by Adès performed by the Calder Quartet. It will also showcase Four Berceuses from Adès’ third opera, “The Exterminating Angel.” It is based on surrealist director Luis Buñuel’s 1962 movie of the same name. The performers will include Adès on piano, Itsuki Yamamoto on viola and Mark Simpson on clarinet.
“I’ve heard such good things about SummerFest in La Jolla,” Adès said from his home in London. “Inon and I worked together before, and it turned out that I was able to invite some of my musical family. Violinist Alexi Kenney and clarinetist Mark Simpson — and old friends like violinist Anthony Marwood, who I’ve I known for 30 years. It’s just a natural combination.”
Adès, 52, will perform the notoriously difficult Three Canons for Ursula by Conlon Nancarrow, an American composer who was long based in Mexico City and is best known for the deviously intricate pieces he wrote for player pianos.
“Nancarrow was just beginning to write for humans!” Adès said. “These are rare pieces — three canons, but I just got hold of the third which wasn’t included in the published version.
“You’re playing the same thing with both hands, but at different speeds. You can hear it very clearly. It’s witty. It’s like four animals who are moving at different speeds. The last canon is a fast crescendo and a brilliant finish. I love the music — it speaks to me.
“Everything on the program is there because I love it. They are passions of mine.”
At the Takeover concert, the other non-Adès composition is by Simpson who will perform his piece, Lov(escape), with Barnatan on piano. Simpson debuted Lov(escape) in England 17 years ago, but this will be its U.S. premiere.
“Tom’s been one of the biggest influences on me as a composer and as a performer,” said Simpson, 34, speaking from his home near Dover on the English coast.
“The way he has managed his career to balance between performing and writing. And his actual compositions are just masterfully done,” Simpson said.
On Wednesday, the first of SummerFest’s Midweek Masterpieces will feature Adès’ composition Märchentänze, which he will play with Marwood, and Janáček’s Concertino.
“I return to the concertina often,” Adès said. “It’s one of Janáček’s greatest works, but it’s not performed too often. It’s a unique grouping of instruments — a mixture of strings and winds. A festival like this is the perfect setting for it.”
On Saturday, Simpson will play Alchymia, which Adès wrote for the clarinetist. It will be the U.S. premiere.
“Mark is special,” Adès said. “He won the BBC competition as a clarinetist and as the BBC composer in the same year. I composed Alchymia to show his range as a great clarinetist. He plays it with a composer’s ear.”
Also on Saturday, Adès will play Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A Major. He believes it’s likely the first piece of music he ever heard.
“I was very young and in my family’s watermill house, seeing reflections of the water on the ceiling. That goes with this piece,” Adès said. “It has that naturalness of water with it. I’m very excited to be playing it.”
The next day, Adès will again join up with Marwood for a special arrangement of Stravinsky’s landmark “The Rite of Spring.”
“I’ve been performing and conducting orchestras around the world,” Adès said. “SummerFest will be good for me seeing and working with old friends. It’s very different from working with an orchestra. And I’ll be glad to get out of my composing studio. I will be happy to make music with everybody and get back to playing chamber music.”
SummerFest 2023’s Takeover at the JAI: Thomas Adès
When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6
Where: The JAI at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla
Tickets: $73-$83
Other SummerFest concerts featuring Thomas Adès
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Aug. 6
Tickets: $43-$100
Phone: (858) 459-3728
Online: theconrad.org
Wood is a freelance writer.