John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?

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The solo part – written especially for Wang – it’s the pianist as perfectly as her infamous bodycon dresses. Her flawless technique is ideally suited to the frequent high-octane, galloping passages…Packed... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2020, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 17th Apr 2020
Catalogue No: 4838289
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 30 minutes

Presto Editor's Choice

April 2020
BBC Music Magazine

September 2020

Concerto Choice
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2020
Opus Klassik

2021

Winner - Concerto

Adams, J: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?

Work length26:19

Album only

Yuja Wang (piano)
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel
Recorded: 2019-11-08
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall

I. Gritty, Funky, But in strict Tempo; Twitchy, Bot-Like

Track length11:31

Album only

II. Much Slower; Gently, Relaxed

Track length7:07

Album only

III. Piú mosso: Obsession / Swing

Track length7:41

Album only

Adams, J: China Gates

Work length4:39

Album only

Yuja Wang (piano)
Recorded: 2019-11-08
Recording Venue: Walt Disney Concert Hall

Reviews
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Reviews

September 2020

The solo part – written especially for Wang – it’s the pianist as perfectly as her infamous bodycon dresses. Her flawless technique is ideally suited to the frequent high-octane, galloping passages…Packed full of ear-worms (the simple melody and its improvisatory-like variations in the third section are devastatingly catchy), this work lives up to its title. Adams’s Reichian solo piano piece China Gates (1977) brings stillness after the fiendish excitement.

June 2020

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...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.

July 2020

It is terrifically played by Yuja Wang, wonderfully supported by Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Wang completes the album with a lovingly flowing rendition of China Gates (1997), a reminder in four-and-a-half minutes of Adams’ minimalist roots.

April 2020

Adams’s score bursts with energy and invention, and Wang is her usual electrifying self as she flits between Lisztian bravura, honky-tonk and jazz on the world premiere recording of this Totentanz for piano and orchestra.

John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?

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