The Met premiere production of John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic concluded last Thursday; this weekend, the Atlanta Symphony will give a staged production of the piece. Tonight, the composer is at Harvard to lead a performance of The Wound-Dresser, followed by a discussion. The Boston Globe talks with the composer about this "particularly rich time" in his life, as "one of America's busiest and most original composers" and features a review of Adams's memoir, Hallelujah Junction, that concludes: "[T]his is a book that any aspiring artist, in any medium, should read as a kind of how-to guide to achieving artistic success without losing integrity, something that seems to many young artists today nearly impossible. In fact, it is a book for anyone who wants to create something—including a self."
The Met premiere production of John Adams opera Doctor Atomic concluded last Thursday; the production makes its UK premiere in February at the English National Opera. This evening, the composer is at Harvard University, his alma mater, for a performance of The Wound-Dresser, his 1989 piece based on the Walt Whitman poem. Adams will lead the school's Bach Society Orchestra and baritone John Kapusta '09 in the performance, followed by a conversation with University President Drew Gilpin Faust (a Civil War scholar) and English Professor Helen Vendler. It's all a part of Harvard's Learning from Performers, the Office for the Arts' visiting-artist program.The event is free, but tickets are required. For more information, visit ofa.fas.harvard.edu.
Boston Globe correspondent David Weininger asked the composer about this "particularly rich time" in his life, as "one of America's busiest and most original composers," in an interview addressing Doctor Atomic, the recent Nonesuch release of his opera A Flowering Tree, and the publication of his memoir, Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life. Read the interview at boston.com.
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Weininger's colleague at the Globe, David Rollow, reviews Hallelujah Junction and is particularly moved by its recounting of Adams' journey from his East Coast home, with its entrenched musical establishment, to the artistic wilds of San Fransicso in the 1970s. "No book I know of better captures the thrill of a moment of artistic freedom and innovation," writes Rollow. "The times were exciting, and Adams is a very entertaining writer."
Rollow, who is both a writer and a painter, sees value in the book beyond its documentation of a composer's life:
Although it is entirely about music, this is a book that any aspiring artist, in any medium, should read as a kind of how-to guide to achieving artistic success without losing integrity, something that seems to many young artists today nearly impossible. In fact, it is a book for anyone who wants to create something—including a self.
Read the book review at boston.com.
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Even after its run at the Met, its production of Doctor Atomic continues to reverberate in cities across the country through The Met: Live in HD. The program broadcast a performance of the piece live around the world earlier this month, and select theaters continue to offer screenings.
The Kansas City Star's Steve Paul writes of the joys of seeing the opera in the cinematic setting, in high definition: "The camera work brings you up close and personal to the performance in a way you could never experience in person." And of Doctor Atomic in particular, he writes, "In a word: riveting."
Paul goes on to say:
Adams’ post-minimalist, occasionally celestial score seemed fitting and stirring. Peter Sellars nimbly and brilliantly cooked up the libretto from a mix of documentary sources (letters, memoirs and the like) and poetry ... Baritone Gerald Finley was superb as Oppenheimer, and soprano Sasha Cooke was radiant as his wife, Kitty ...
Read the article at kansascity.com.
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Atlantans get still another view of the opera this weekend, when the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Robert Spano, perform a staged production of Doctor Atomic at Atlanta Symphony Hall, Friday and Sunday. (Spano conducted Chicago's Lyric Opera production last season.) The performances feature Met principles Finley and Eric Owens, along with Adams regulars Jessica Rivera (A Flowering Tree) and James Maddalena (The Death of Klinghoffer, Nixon in China).
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Pierre Ruhe echoes Weininger's Globe article when he dubs Adams "the first composer since Stravinsky to flood the market in all media."
Referencing Adams's memoir, Ruhe calls the composer "a thoughtful writer" and the book "a compelling read." The book's companion album, a two-CD Nonesuch retrospective, features "Adams' most celebrated scores," says Ruhe. "Punch-packing orchestral masterpieces share space with scenes from in-the-news operas including the brazen work that propelled him to the front ranks, Nixon in China." The article goes on to describe Adams's latest opera, A Flowering Tree as "a gorgeous, melodic fairy-tale."
For information on the upcoming Atlanta performances, visit atlantasymphony.org.
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