David Robertson is conducting the world premiere of John Adams’ piano concerto After the Fall at Davies Symphony Hall this week. He is particularly struck by how the acclaimed Bay Area composer was influenced by Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson’s interpretations of Bach’s music.
“What fascinates me, as this is the third piano concerto I’ve conducted, is how Adams draws inspiration from writing specifically for a soloist,” Robertson shares. “What’s incredible about this piece is how John was inspired by Víkingur’s beautiful interpretation of Bach.”
Commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, After the Fall will premiere Thursday and will also be performed during Saturday and Sunday concerts alongside Carmina burana. This marks Adams’ fourth piano concerto, following his 1989 work Eros Piano. It is also the third concerto Robertson has conducted, following 1997’s Century Rolls and 2019’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?, which featured performances by Robertson’s wife, Orli Shaham.
Ólafsson, whose album Johann Sebastian Bach won BBC Music Magazine’s 2019 Album of the Year, is renowned for his interpretations of both classical and contemporary music, including works by Philip Glass. Robertson, famous for his work conducting Adams’ pieces, has a diverse repertoire spanning various musical periods.
Robertson first became captivated by Adams’ music in 1981 when he heard Shaker Loops (1978), written for a string septet. When Robertson reached out to Adams about organizing a concert, Adams mentioned he was working on an opera about Richard Nixon. The two have worked together ever since Adams’ Nixon in China premiered in 1987.
“Once you become familiar with a composer’s works as I have with John’s, you start to recognize their voice—something uniquely theirs that you can identify even when they venture into new territory,” Robertson explains.
In After the Fall, Adams incorporates two harps and a celesta, which Robertson says contributes to the work’s ethereal, floating quality. He compares the piece’s three movements to a road trip: “The sections aren’t sharply defined, so it’s more like a journey through different landscapes. It’s as if the environment doesn’t change at first, but after a while, you notice subtle shifts, and you realize you’re no longer where you started.”
Robertson also points out that the influence of Bach can be felt throughout Adams’ composition, though not in a direct imitation: “You’ll hear moments where it feels like John is almost quoting Bach, particularly in the interplay between the orchestra and the piano. It’s a natural integration into the piece, not a pastiche. There are clear references to Bach’s early music, which has had such a foundational role in Western music. It’s fascinating to see how deep Bach’s roots go, and this piece is one of the many offshoots.”
While Robertson is an expert on Adams’ work, he feels that the title After the Fall adds a new layer of meaning to this composition.
“One of the key musical connections to the title is the frequent use of falling phrases throughout the piece,” Robertson notes. “This idea of falling relates to gravity, flotation, and the central force pulling things to the ground. It’s an aspect of Adams’ music that we haven’t heard from him before, and I’m excited to explore it.”
Along with After the Fall, this week’s concerts include Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, a dialogue-driven piece between instruments, and Carl Orff’s medieval-inspired cantata Carmina burana. The performances will feature soprano Susanna Phillips, tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, baritone Will Liverman, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
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