John Adams - Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes (Yuja Wang)

Information

Composer: John Adams

• Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?
• China Gates

Yuja Wang, piano

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

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Review

This makes for an intriguing listen straight after DG’s American recording of Thomas Adès’s new Piano Concerto – not least given Adès’s was coupled with his own Totentanz and Adams’s is a Totentanz. But Adams’s title is surely his first bit of trickery: for all its diabolical qualities, this concerto in three movements makes little attempt to flaunt any tunes. There are more in Wozzeck.

That’s fine, because the piece is far too down-and-dirty anyway. It drops listeners straight into an urban street chase, a moto perpetuo powered from the midriff but underpinned by a funky slap bass whose bump-and-grind throws out all sorts of extraneous industrial sounds from the orchestra’s extremities. There are features in common with the composer’s previous works in the form but gone is the sheen and broad, universal world view of Century Rolls. This is music that doesn’t get too comfortable in its own skin – or even in its own time signature.

When the chase-down ends, the piano and orchestra appear to catch their breath, turning to stare at one another under a silvery moonlight; was this a playful, maybe even sexual chase all along? They are led straight into the gallant, socially distanced dance of the second movement, which eventually prompts an audible smile from the pianist before the disruptions of the finale – all rhythmic shape-shifting and momentum-building, up to and including the surprise coda, which lurches at a slower speed towards the conclusive time-out bell.

So not such a crazily inventive concerto as Adès’s nor as serious a musical commentary as some of Adams’s own works, many of which it even appears to tease with derring-do (those pile-driving minor thirds in the bass dredge up the emotional undertow of Nixon in China). Wang and Dudamel make for ideal rival racing drivers. If Wang’s China Gates might not have the horizon focus of some other versions, her power, rhythmic fortitude and sense of fun put a rocket under the concerto.

— Andrew Mellor

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John Adams (born 15 February 1947) is an American composer and conductor. Educated at Harvard, he initially embraced modernism before developing a distinctive style that blends minimalism with expressive, eclectic influences. Based in San Francisco, Adams gained recognition through orchestral works such as Harmonium, Harmonielehre and Short Ride in a Fast Machine. He is also a major operatic composer, with works including Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer and Doctor Atomic, often addressing historical and political themes. His music has earned many honors, including Grammy and Pulitzer Prizes.

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Yuja Wang (born 10 February 1987) is a Chinese-born American pianist. Raised in a musical family, she began piano studies at the age of six and later received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007 when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since become one of the world’s leading classical artists. Her acclaimed recordings have earned multiple awards, including a GRAMMY win in 2023 for The American Project.

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Gustavo Dudamel (born 26 January 1981 in Barquisimeto) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He attended the Jacinto Lara Conservatory and the Latin-American Violin Academy. In 1999, he was appointed music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Dudamel made his US conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1995, and has been the orchestra's music director since 2009. In 2003, the New York Philharmonic appointed Dudamel as its next Music and Artistic Director, effective with the 2026–2027 season. He was named one of Time magazine's most influential 100 people in 2010.

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