![]() 3 in D minor which, after that absolutely perfect opening lyric, suffers a bit in its construction (particularly compared to the first and second concertos). ![]() Last on the program was Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. ![]() The symphony works as a kind of explosive itself, with all the rich tonal colors for which Adams is famous. One moment, sounds are creeping from the mist, in another they are ballooning in dynamic crescendo hairpins. The balance in the construction itself garners respect when shimmering violins build a foggy foundation for the brass to belt out lyrics or when six different competing rhythms across sections somehow come together coherently, I was awestruck. The sound of the symphony is insistent at first with relentless scales moving across the symphony in varying time signatures. This last movement, as Adams said in a video introduction before the symphony started, is the moment when Oppenheimer wonders if he can regain his soul. Robert Oppenheimer as he develops the nuclear bomb. First is “The Laboratory,” a nod to 1950s science fiction films, then the frenzied “Panic” movement, followed by “Trinity,” which he models after John Donne’s holy sonnet “Batter my heart, three person’d God”. Adams designed it as three continuous movements. ![]() The Houston Symphony doesn’t tend toward new music generally, and it was evident that they had put some extra rehearsal time into Adams’ complex score. But the real showstopper of the evening was John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony (an adaptation of his 2005 opera Doctor Atomic) which, in the year of the composer's 70th birthday, had everyone sitting up straighter on stage. ![]()
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