John Adams: Absolute Jest, Grand Pianola Music
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director
John Adams, conductor
St. Lawrence String Quartet; Marc-Andre Hamelin and Orli Shaham (pianos); Synergy Vocals
Recorded live in performances in Davies Symphony Hall, 2013 & 2015
(SFS Media)
The San Francisco Symphony's outstanding in-house audio and visual label SFS Media has recently released a Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) of two alluring works by contemporary American composer and Bay Area citizen John Adams. Coming from both ends of a remarkable career, each piece demonstrates what has made him such an enduring and celebrated presence in the imperiled world of "serious" modern music. Adams ranks as one of the most performed and praised of contemporary writers, but still manages to incite controversy amidst the acclaim.
The selections on the new disc offer a perfect example of what so enraged and excited earlier listeners, and of the mature voice of an artist who, after three decades, hasn't lost his passion or, better yet, his endearing wit. There is a sense of occasion in the greatest of Adams' scores, and recording them live seems the best way to convey their exuberant vitality.
The engineers at SFS Media, including Gus Skinas, who did the mastering, and producer Jack Vad, deserve special bows for making the SACD such a glittering treat. In some ways, it offers better aural clarification of what we first heard in the quirky acoustics of DSH. The trademark brilliance of the composer's orchestrations and the wide range of the musical performers' contributions come across with more thrilling presence and tangible drive.
MTT opens the concert as conductor with the revised edition of Absolute Jest, Adams' often beautiful and engaging homage to Beethoven and the scherzos of his late string quartets and Ninth Symphony. An SFS commission and, like Grand Pianola Music, written with the orchestra specifically in mind, the carefully re-tooled score is much more than a musical joke or collection of tantalizing quotes.
Adams obviously loves the old master, and we love him for treating him so well. The interchange is still a lot of fun, but there is enough gravitas to show respect, and the St. Lawrence Quartet (rightly balanced with the orchestra) lends some lovely detail in more reflective moments.
The composer himself takes the podium for Grand Pianola Music, and frankly, I might have preferred hearing what MTT could bring to the once-divisive score. Adams is a good conductor, and he has an undisputed authority over his own work, but he sometimes unnecessarily tames the eagerness of his musicians.
Not to worry; the engineers have come to the rescue and given helpful prominence to Synergy Vocals �" Micaela Haslam, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange and Heather Cairncross �" as they sing out in a minimalist take on female back-up trios. Pianists Shaham and Hamelin are also heard to full advantage as they boisterously cut loose with technique ranging from Rachmaninoff to Liberace. (Hey, Adams said it first.)
Part 2, On the Dominant Divide, the movement that scandalized listeners at the New York premiere in 1982, seemed softened by Adams in January of this year, but some of the impact was simply diminished by the sheer size of the auditorium. The expert balancing on disc brings out all of the naughty oomph and bad-boy chutzpah that must have sounded intolerable to the snooty "new music" elite 30 years ago. Now it simply amounts to a rip-roaring good time and a wonderful finale for the latest SFS Media library addition. Audience applause is included at the end. You may want to join in.
Disc available: SFSymphony.org/store.
Download mastered for iTunes: iTunes.com/SFSymphony.