American Modern Opera Company & The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine 2024 Review: El Niño – Nativity Reconsidered

Composer John Adams’ and librettist Peter Sellars’ opera, “El Niño,” debuted at Metropolitan Opera earlier this year, making this their fourth work to be produced at the Met, including “Doctor Atomic” (2008), “Nixon in China” (2011), and “The Death of Klinghoffer” (2014). OperaWire reviewed the production in addition to attending and documenting Guggenheim Museum’s “Works & Process” presentation by the {…}

Nov 21, 2024

Works & Process Unveils Spring 2025 Season

(Photo credit: Boston Lyric Opera) Works & Process announces its 40th anniversary season taking place in spring 2025. For the purposes of this article only opera events are included. Fortieth Works & Process at the Guggenheim Series – Performance Highlights and Discussions Excerpts from Sarah Ruhl and Anthony Roth Costanzo’s reimagining of Vivaldi “The Seasons” are performed prior to its {…}

Jul 23, 2024

Editorial: Myth-Making in ‘Nixon in China’ and Why Modern Directors Don’t Get It

On July 11, a renowned composer John Adams posted on X (ex-Twitter): This @deutsche_oper production: painful to even think about. “Nixon in China” is so often mistreated or misunderstood. In 35 years I’ve only seen 2 productions that got it right. This one? Clearly a disgrace. But we composers can only babysit our creations for so long. What do we {…}

Apr 25, 2024

Metropolitan Opera 2023-24 Review: El Niño

(Photo: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera) Metropolitan Opera debuted John Adams’s “El Niño,” with libretto based on original sources by Peter Sellars and John Adams, to a sold out house of past, present, and future opera goers on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024. “El Niño” is unlike anything John Adams has done before and the historical timing of this debut is {…}

Apr 12, 2024

The Juilliard School’s Announces April 2024 Lineup

The Juilliard School has announced its April lineup. This article features vocal works only. However, Juilliard’s upcoming programs for April include traditional and contemporary classical music, jazz, dance, and drama performances. Closing out the month of performances is the Juilliard Orchestra conducted by John Adams. Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” is presented by Juilliard for the first time in over {…}

Nov 9, 2023

American Modern Opera Company Announces ‘El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered’ U.S. Tour

American Modern Opera Company has announced a U.S. tour for “El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered” this December. From Dec. 11-21, 2023, the organization will tour the famed John Adams work in a new chamber-music arrangement. Audiences will hear the work in Omaha, Stanford, New Haven, and then at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The work {…}

Oct 27, 2023

Trekking Through American Opera (Part One)

(Photo Credit: Scott Suchman) Throughout this new series, we will be looking at the history of American opera beginning in the 2000s to the present through a revisit of certain iconic works of the decade and OperaWire’s coverage of them throughout the 21st century. In this first part, we will look at the development of American opera during the 2000s, {…}

Aug 2, 2023

Opera Profile: The Two Stories Behind John Adams’ ‘Antony and Cleopatra’

Photo Credit: Cory Weaver Premiering at San Francisco Opera just last year, John Adams’ newest opera, “Antony and Cleopatra” brought the story of the ill-fated lovers to the 21st century with a score that echoed the profound feelings each lover had for the other. On the back of previous renditions of the infamous story, such as Samuel Barber’s 1966 version, {…}

Jul 16, 2023

Stichting LustrumOpera Brings ‘Doctor Atomic’ Back to Netherlands for First Time in 16 Years

(Photo by Richard Terborg) John Adams‘ “Doctor Atomic” has returned to the Netherlands for the first time in 16 years courtesy of Stichting LustrumOpera. The production, which opened on July 13, 2023, will run through July 25 at the Werkspoorkathedrall in Uthrect and stars Quirijn de Lang as Dr. Oppenheimer and Jeannette van Schaik as Kitty Oppenheimer. Other cast members {…}

Apr 5, 2023

IN Series to Present John Adams’ ‘I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky’

IN Series is set to present John Adams’ “I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky” starting on April 14, 2023. Written by June Jordan, the work presents “events of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake with its searing, compassionate, and prescient exploration of broken justice and migration systems, police violence against young Black men, family border separation and {…}

Mar 7, 2023

Opera Dortmund 2023 Review: Nixon in China

Photo: Anke Sundermeier In 1972, President Nixon made his historic visit to China. The event, at the time, was seen as a pivotal moment in establishing political relations with a country that, since World War Two, had remained largely closed to the wider international community. The significance of Nixon’s visit was reflected in the fact that it received widespread media {…}

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