Discovery Ensemble, conducted by Courtney Lewis
ADÈS, RAMEAU, BEETHOVEN
ADÈS—Chamber Symphony
RAMEAU—Suite from Les Boréades
BEETHOVEN—Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
This program falls neatly into two halves. The first half is frankly outrageous. A remarkable piece by Thomas Adès, one of the most innovative composers of our time, and then an equally remarkable piece—and equally outlandish—from one of the masters of the French Baroque. It is amazing to hear the ways in which Adès and Rameau, separated by 250 years, are fascinated by the same sorts of things, both musical and non-musical, and play the same sorts of tricks on the audience.
The second half of the concert pulls us back into the most well-known landscape that exists. Very few people in the audience will have heard the Adès or the Rameau pieces before, but absolutely nobody is unfamiliar with Beethoven's Fifth. And that is the eternal challenge for performers of this great work, which seems to connect with everyone everywhere. It’s the challenge of making it fresh, of making it seem, regardless of its familiarity, new.