John Adams - Road Movies (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: John Adams

• Road Movies
• Hallelujah Junction
• China Gates
• American Berserk
• Phrygian Gates

Leila Josefowicz, violin

John Novacek, piano

Nicolas Hodges, piano

Rolf Hind, piano

Date: 2004

Label: Nonesuch

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

John Adams hasn’t written much for solo instruments or small ensembles, so this collection is especially valuable, even if two of the piano pieces have already been recorded several times over. Certainly, the performances here are superb. Nicolas Hodges plays China Gates (1977) with sublime clarity, registering even the subtlest of harmonic changes, and giving this brief work a welcome sense of breadth and wonder. Rolf Hinds is similarly effective in Phrygian Gates (1977), pacing the long first movement for maximum dramatic effect.

American Berserk (2001), the newest entry, demonstrates how much Adams’s style has changed over the past quarter-century – and particularly here, sandwiched between its older brothers. It’s a manic, unabashedly virtuoso creation, comparable in sheer density to Ligeti’s études, though its layers of rhythmically independent ideas also bring Nancarrow to mind. I can imagine a slightly more unhinged performance than Hodges gives – but not by much. Hodges and Hinds join forces for Hallelujah Junction (1997), a glorious addition to the two-piano repertory. The opening, with the instruments sounding against each other, suggests the joyous pealing of bells, while the central slow movement offers what may be Adams’s most traditionally romantic music yet, with lush chords riding arpeggiated waves.

Road Movies (1995), for violin and piano, is more consistent in mood than the mercurial Hallelujah Junction. Built from motivic fragments that telescope in and out, it features two spiky, highly-caffeinated movements surrounding a spare-textured, folksy meditation that’s as close to Copland’s Big Sky Americana as Adams is likely to get. Leila Josefowicz and John Novacek negotiate the music’s plentiful rhythmic twists and turns with aplomb, and Josefowicz’s slightly raw twang in the slow movement is an imaginative touch. Urgently recommended.

— Andrew Farach-Colton

-----------------------------------------------------------

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.

***

Leila Josefowicz (born 20 October 1977) is an American-Canadian classical violinist. Born in Ontario, Canada and raised in California, the U.S.A., she began violin studies at an early age and later trained at the Curtis Institute of Music. Josefowicz is a leading interpreter of new repertoire and has premiered numerous concertos written for her by composers including John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Luca Francesconi and Colin Matthews. She performs regularly with major orchestras worldwide, records for leading labels, and has received multiple honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize.

-----------------------------------------------------------