“Abandon hope, Dante famously forewarned.

“Let us now, 702 years since the publication of The Divine Comedy, count the ways: the forever Omicron, climate change, nuclear saber-rattling.

“It was almost exactly three years ago that Thomas Adès’ wondrously anarchic and entertaining Inferno had its premiere, a fantastical highlight of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s centennial season. Back then, finding brilliant comedy in our human frailties seemed doable. Meant as the first part of an evening-long Divine Comedy ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor for Britain’s Royal Ballet, the danced Inferno, which had its premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion a month later, became a darker work⁠. It was still full of vivid cheek, if a bit creepier.

“During lockdown Adès finished the final two parts, ‘Purgatorio’ and ‘Paradiso,’ with the complete work given its premiere by Royal Ballet in London last October as The Dante Project. The full orchestral score, simply called ‘Dante’ and commissioned by the L.A. Phil, had its concert premiere last weekend as the main event in the orchestra’s Gen X festival curated by the 51-year-old British composer.”   —Mark Swed, “Commentary: Thomas Adès’ fantastical ‘Dante’ at the L.A. Phil makes Gen X proud,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2022 (retrieved December 30, 2023)

See a related post on the Royal Ballet’s The Dante Project here.