Thomas Adès
As his ballet The Dante Project is released on Opus Arte, the British composer speaks to Steph Power about the all-consuming nature of creating – and breaking – musical rules
It seems remarkable that career firsts are still possible for this composer, conductor and pianist extraordinaire. Born in 1971, he burst onto the scene as a youngster in the 1990s with audacious works including the chamber opera Powder Her Face (1995) and orchestra piece Asyla (1997), whose sheer facility and invention swiftly secured his recognition worldwide as one of the outstanding composers and musicians of our time. Since then, he has continued to reap widespread acclaim with a prodigious output and performances spanning intimate chamber venues to the New York Metropolitan Opera House.
Yet, as our conversation unfolds during his flying visit home to London – between engagements in a ‘woozily hot but very enjoyable’ Tanglewood (as artistic partner since 2016 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and Lucerne (where, among other things, he will conduct Anne-Sophie Mutter in the) – it’s clear that ongoing firsts should be no surprise. As I discover, this is not least because the business of doors – open, shut and unexpected – remains on a profound, structural level central to his music.
