By Damián Autorino
Editor at Moto Perpetuo
After its world premiere in San Francisco earlier this month, the city of Zurich has been chosen for the European debut of John Adams’s latest piano concerto, After the Fall. At the piano, as in San Francisco, will be Víkingur Ólafsson, for whom the piece was written. The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich will join him under the baton of its principal conductor, Paavo Järvi (in the U.S. premiere, the performers were the San Francisco Symphony and David Robertson). The Zurich performances are set for January 22–24.
In an interview with Joshua Barone for The New York Times, conducted shortly before the premiere, Ólafsson and Adams recalled how it all began a few years ago during the Ojai Music Festival. During a casual conversation over drinks, the pianist said to the composer: “John, you know that you are going to write me a piano concerto, don’t you?” Adams replied, “Yes, you are right.” Ólafsson had already performed Adams’s two previous piano concertos: Century Rolls (1996), written for Emanuel Ax, and Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (2018), written for Yuja Wang.
Although Ólafsson’s repertoire is no stranger to contemporary music, his 2023–2024 season leaned more toward the classics, featuring performances of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Paavo Järvi has a unique way of welcoming guests to Zurich. Together, aboard a tram, they tour the city while chatting about music. This segment, called Tram for Two, already has several episodes on the Tonhalle-Orchester’s YouTube channel.
In a recent episode, Ólafsson shared with Järvi that he has always had “two sides” to himself: the romantic and virtuoso on the one hand and the explorer of new music and uncharted territories on the other. He explained that this duality comes from his parents—his mother, a piano teacher, influenced his classical side, while his father, an architect and composer, inspired his innovative approach.
The premiere of After the Fall in San Francisco was well-received by critics. Writing for San Francisco Classical Voice, Lisa Hirsch said: “After the Fall is a terrific addition to the composer’s catalogue, a piece that will likely be performed and pondered for decades. Ólafsson, a shy and gawky stage presence, played with masterly grace and precision.”
After the Fall is the result of a commission from nine organizations, so it will soon be performed in Paris, London, Los Angeles, and Vienna.
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