John Adams: San Francisco Symphony/MTT to Produce New "Harmonielehre" Recording

On John Adams' excellent blog, "Hell Mouth," the preeminent American composer of today recounts in a recent post the difficult birth of his 1982 Harmonielehre, which sprung out of the most profound period of writer's (composer's?) block he had ever experienced. It's a fascinating--and funny--read, recounting the frantic push to complete the piece only hours before its first rehersal.

Adams also offers an exciting announcement: that the San Francisco Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, will be recording the massive work next week. There's much reason to cheer this announcement--Harmonielehre is a milestone work that I think will be regarded as one of the crowning American achievements in classical music in the late 20th century. And yet, it has only been recorded a handful of times: by Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony shortly after the work's première, by Simon Rattle and his orchestra in Birmingham, England (for my taste, the definitive recording), and very recently by the adventurous, rising conductor in St. Louis, David Robertson.

Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony are in top form at the moment. Their recent Mahler cycle was beautifully played and produced by their in-house label, and I'm sure they'll knock Harmonielehre out of the park. Looking very forward to getting my hands on the recording!