Thomas Adès: Dante

First staged in 2021 by The Royal Ballet in London, Thomas Adès’ Dante—based on the medieval Italian writer’s epic poem The Divine Comedy—has drawn favourable comparisons with classic ballet scores of the past by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and others. This premiere recording of the three-part work confirms Dante’s reputation as an instant modern classic. From the lacerating string figurations and woozy brass glissandos of “Abandon Hope” in “Inferno” to the celestial closing measures of “Paradiso,” Adès’s music teems with invention, summoning strange and intensely vivid images of the spiritual afterlife. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel draws vibrantly expressive playing from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose commitment to Adès’ vision seems total.