John Coolidge Adams

Adams' music, including his two "grand operas" written with poet Alice Goodman, have been called "post-minimalist" for the way they expand on the style pioneered by composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Adams' Doctor Atomic recently found a new production at the Metropolitan Opera, with his Nixon in China scheduled to follow in 2010.

• Nixon in China, opera in three acts
  Libretto by Alice Goodman.
  October 22, 1987, Houston Grand Opera, Houston, Texas
• The Death of Klinghoffer, opera in two acts
  Libretto by Alice Goodman.
  March 19, 1991, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Belgium
• I Was Looking At the Ceiling And Then I Saw the Sky, songplay in two acts
  Libretto by June Jordan.
  May 11, 1995, Zellerbach Playhouse, Berkeley, California
• Doctor Atomic
  Libretto by Peter Sellars, drawn from historical sources.
  October 1, 2005, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, California
• A Flowering Tree, opera in two acts
  Libretto by John Adams and Peter Sellars after the ancient Indian folktale and poetry in translations by AK Ramanujan.
  November 14, 2006, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria, Eric Owens/Russell Thomas/Jessica Rivera; Orquesta Joven Camerata de Venezuela/Schola Cantorum Caracas, cond. Adams; also Berlin, San Francisco, London

• El Niño, nativity oratorio (2000, Paris, France)

Discography

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John Adams I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie CD / Elektra Nonesuch 9 79473-2 (1998)	"I am the wife of Mao Tse-Tung" from Nixon in China on Elin Carlson And What Of Love CD / Eroica Classical (1998)
John Adams Highlights from Nixon in China St. Luke's/de Waart CD / Elektra Nonesuch 9 79193-2 (1990)	John Adams The John Adams Earbox 10 CD / Nonesuch 79453 (1999)
John Adams Nixon in China St. Luke's/de Waart 3 CD / Elektra Nonesuch 9 79177-2 (1990)	"This is prophetic" from Nixon in China on Dawn Upshaw The World So Wide CD / Nonesuch 79458 (1998)
John Adams The Death of Klinghoffer (premiere recording) Opéra de Lyon/Nagano 2 CD / Elektra Nonesuch 9 79281-2 (1992)

Videography

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John Adams Doctor Atomic Netherlands Opera/Renes 2 DVD / BBC/Opus (2008)

John Adams The Death of Klinghoffer London Symphony Orchestra/Adams DVD / Philips (2003)

Bibliography

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Magnificat from El Nino "This is prophetic!" from Nixon in China in Boosey & Hawkes American Arias: Soprano Boosey and Hawkes 2004	Chou En Lai's Epilogue from Nixon in China Dawn Air from El Nino Dewain's Song of Liberation and Surprise from I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky News Aria from Nixon in China "Shake the heavens" from El Nino in Boosey & Hawkes American Arias: Bass Boosey and Hawkes 2004
Consuelo's Dream from I Was Looking At The Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky La anunciacion from El Nino Leila's Song: "Alone (Again or at Last)" from I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky Mrs. Klinghoffer's Aria from The Death of Klinghoffer in Boosey & Hawkes American Arias: Mezzo-Soprano Boosey and Hawkes 2004

Last update: January 1, 2009 | Image license