Fête de la Musique 2022

The Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat performs two of the three piano concertos that the American composer John Adams wrote. Eros Piano, John Adams’ first piano concerto, composed in 1989, is a 15-minute piece in a single movement. It was inspired by Riverrun, a piano concerto by Japanese composer Tory Takemitsu, as well as the music of the jazz pianist Bill Evans. John Adams composed his second piano concerto in 1997, commissioned by the renowned American composer Emanuel Ax. On one hand, the title Century Rolls is a reference to the rolls that drove pianolas or automatic pianos, while on the other it is a testimony to John Adams’ ambition of reflecting on the piano music of the bygone century, with odes to such composers as Gershwin, Rachmaninoff and Satie. The last of the three movements is entitled Hail, Bop: a playful reference to the Hale-Bopp comet, which John Adams observed passing by as he composed.   

The Belgian National Orchestra brings the evening to an end with the Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff. He wrote this piece in 1940 on Long Island (New York) while reflecting on his rich life. In the first movement, Rachmaninoff quotes the main theme of his Symphony No. 1, which had a disastrous premiere. In the third he incorporates both the Dies Irae theme (a symbol of death) and the Hallelujah from the orthodox liturgy (a symbol of resurrection).
 

Hugh Wolff, conductor
Ralph van Raat, piano