“Dense, brash and exuberant, these two stellar works by John Adams are love letters to the confidence of the 1950s and a time when some of the greatest feats of virtuosity were often performed in smoky jazz clubs. David Robertson leads an incisive performance; the saxophonist Timothy McAllister sizzles”
“Hailstork’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings is a potent distillation of American music, with elements of high church, jazz, and African-American spirituals…the pairing of saxophone and strings created a powerful, minimalist effect; a canvas upon which McAllister painted Hailstork’s complex melodies that commanded every note in his instrument’s range. An electrifying and auspicious premiere.”
“[John] Adams wrote the concerto for saxophone virtuoso Tim McAllister, who played it Friday with consummate polish and verve”
“He gave the piece the knockout performance it deserved…[McAllister] gave a fluent demonstration of what his instrument –all his instruments–can do. He tore his way nimbly through intricate passagework, shaped lyrical melodies with the grace of an opera singer, and gave the piece all the theatrical panache it wanted.”
“Couched in Adams’ latter-day style in which fractured rhythms and thematic units exist within a potent stream of pulsation, the Saxophone Concerto also draws upon jazz influences, its soloist tumbling this way and that in pseudo-improvisatory vein…McAllister, a phenomenal technician, played it all smoothly, with classical restraint…Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony excelled in the mysteriously dappled, feinting and jabbing accompaniment.”
“The star of the show was the saxophonist Timothy McAllister, all pep and bounce and loose-limbed lyricism in John Adams’s 2013 Saxophone Concerto. It reads like a love letter to the giants of be-bop and swing, with orchestration as plush as a velvet banquette, honeyed harmonies from a choir of flutes and clarinets, and mirror-ball figures for celesta. At ease and alert, McAllister dazzled and crooned…an American dream of neon signage and slick city streets.”
“4 out of 5 stars–the saxophone concerto is playfully smoochy…Adams demonstrates how well he understands the instrument, and McAllister how well he can play it…”
A new concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra coming 2026-2027 Season! Commissioning groups include the Gail Straith Fund/University of Michigan, Albany Symphony, Auburn Symphony Orchestra (WA), and the Shreveport Symphony. Contact Martha Woods (info below).
Photo: Aaron Jay Young