Pete Townshend, legendary guitarist and song-writer of The Who, has announced that he has created a classical version on the bands 1973 album Quadrophenia for symphony orchestra, opera singers and choir.
A premiere concert at the Royal Albert Hall will be on July 5, starring Townshend and Alfie Boe, who will be singing the parts originally sung by Roger Daltrey. They will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Oriana Choir, conducted by Robert Ziegler. The recording will be released by Deutsche Grammophon next summer.
In a statement, Townshend said he hoped this version of Quadrophenia would help “reinvigorate” classical audiences, “[bringing] people who might not otherwise go to see a symphony orchestra perform without lights and fireworks and a movie screen”.
The new “symphonised” version of Quadrophenia was orchestrated by composer, orchestrator and singer-songwriter Rachel Fuller, who is Townshend’s long-time girlfriend. This project means a lot to Townshend, who has made it his mission to break molds in traditional music-making and to take rock music to a higher artistic level. Known for the long-running rock opera, Tommy, Quadrophenia took his artistic vision to the next level. Conceived and written by Townshend, Quadrophenia went on to become a feature film, as well as a theatre production. The album was also performed in its entirety on The Who’s most recent live tour. Townshend began working on the project as a part of his plan to leave a legacy of all his work arranged for orchestra as sheet music, for future generations to enjoy. He hopes the new work will go on to become a regular part of the orchestral repertoire and boost attendance at classical concerts.
You can by tickets for the premiere concert at Royal Albert Hall here.
