John Adams is one of the most important musical voices of America. His tonal language is at once unmistakable and of infinite variety. Minimalism mixes with imaginative orchestration and a jazz-inflected spirit to create a cosmos full of energy and colour that constantly reveals new facets. During the season 2016/2017 John Adams has accompanied the Berliner Philharmoniker as composer in residence.
The orchestra performed a wide variety of his works, from the oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary and the famous Harmonielehre to more unfamiliar treasures. The concerts were conducted by chief conductor Sir Simon Rattle and outstanding guests: Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert and Kirill Petrenko. In the course of this partnership, John Adams himself also made his debut as conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The design of the edition is by the world-renowned artist Wolfgang Tillmans.

Great cast with Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Ildebrando D´Arcangelo (Covent Garden, LA Opera, Salzburg Festival), Vittorio Grigolo (Covent Garden, Scala, MET), Michelle DeYoung (MET, Bayreuth, Scala), Julianna Di Giacomo (MET (LA Opera).
Bonus: Great bonus incl. interview with Gustavo Dudamel on the Messa da Requiem and Hollywood Bowl.
Subtitles: Lat, E, G, F, Sp, Chin, Kor, Jap.
Bonus: English (Original Language)
Sound Format DVD:PCM 2.0. dts 5.1
Picture DVD: 16:9, HD

Recorded during its world premiere at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in May 2015, Philip Glass’ Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra was composed for soloists Katia and Marielle Labéque in the fall and winter of 2014-15 and commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Göteborgs Symfoniker and Orquesta Nacional de España. This performance provided the first opportunity for Glass to collaborate with Gustavo Dudamel and the Labéque sisters.
In a series of works that began in 1987, Philip Glass has gone on to compose twelve concertos, nine of them since the year 2000. The form really caught the composer’s attention when he embraced the inherent narrative concept of the concerto as typified by the soloist positioned as a hero who fights against, and almost without fail, triumphs over the orchestra. Only in his recent concertos, including his Double Concerto for Violin & Cello, has he diverged from the classic heroic model of the concerto. Instead, Glass has developed a new compositional approach in which the orchestra functions as an organic extension of the soloists.
From the very first bar of Double Concerto for Two Pianos & Orchestra, we hear that the pianos and the orchestra are part of one tapestry of sound. All throughout the work one hears the pianists playing figures which are doubled by sections of the orchestra, or where the range of certain instruments end, other instruments pick up the thread and continue the melodic or rhythmic line.