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Thomas Adès, in the first concert of his mini Composer Focus with the LSO, conducted three of his own works and one by Brahms at the Barbican.

Thomas Adès' music has a rawness that only comes across heard live. This seems particularly true when he conducts it himself. Gone are the smooth contours of recordings and other conductors, replaced by a focus on infectious rhythm and sometimes brutal colours. His lyrical tendencies therefore become all the more powerful.Tevot is the perfect example.

I had extremely high expectations for this evening of music at the Concertgebouw; I’m a huge Thomas Adès fan and ever since I’d seen Leila Josefowicz play Esa-Pekka Salonen’s violin concerto I was more than impressed with her. Three Dutch premières of Thomas Adès’s music, as well as his debut as a conductor for the Concertgebouworkest certainly made an inspiring billing.