Thomas Adès CBE is a prodigious English composer, conductor and pianist, described by The New York Times in 2007 as “one of the most accomplished and complete musicians of his generation.”

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has collaborated with Adès since his season as Composer-in-Focus with the orchestra in 2000/01.

This is his second album on the LPO label: his Chamber Symphony, op.2 (LPO-0035) was released in 2008, The Times observing the work as “exciting music, excitingly performed.”

Adès conducts all work on this release, and all recorded performances were UK premieres.

Luxury Suite from Powder Her Face, adapted from the opera, was commissioned by six arts organisations including the London Philharmonic Orchestra and premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2018. It centres on an elderly Duchess (in all but name the notorious real-life Duchess of Argyll) on the brink of eviction from her hotel room, looking back over her salacious career.

Five Spells from The Tempest, an orchestral suite drawn from Adès’s 2003 opera based on Shakespeare’s play, debuted at the 2022 Dresden Festival and received its UK premiere performance and recording by the LPO in 2023.

Inferno Suite, based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy, was commissioned in 2019/20 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Ballet and centres on the protagonist’s journey through the fires of hell.

Luxury Suite from Powder Her Face: “A performance full to the brim of the decadence pervading Adès’ lavish score, from the wailing woodwinds and melting notes of the tango …Adès and the superb LPO blazed a trail through incandescent outbursts and reflective sobriety, showing sardonic wit and a measure of poignancy…” - Bachtrack (★★★★)

Five Spells from The Tempest: “It’s a shapely precis, flecked with glistening instrumental colours, and a welcome memento of what is Adès’s finest stage work to date.” - The Guardian (★★★★)

Inferno Suite: “Battered by wild storms, stung by wasps, suspended in ice, almost eaten by snakes: we hardly got out alive from Thomas Adès’s tumultuous concert…” - The Times (★★★★)