Adès: Asyla

Thomas Adès’ short symphony Asyla caused a major stir in the new- and orchestral-music worlds on its premiere in 1997. In his glowing review of this recording, musicologist Richard Taruskin hailed Adès’ rare ability to toe the line between “subtly fashioned and highly detailed” technique and “the common listening experience of real audiences.” Nothing exemplifies this like the third movement, “Ecstasio,” a somehow-convincing dalliance with EDM which rivals the Rite of Spring in immediacy, menace, and strangeness.