The SSO’s chief conductor chats to Limelight’s Editor Clive Paget about the thrills and spills of the year ahead. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Messiaen is mixed with Adams, Ashkenazy with Dohnányi in David Robertson’s latest eclectic cocktail. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Trouble inside and out of the Met as controversial John Adams opera reaches opening night. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
"Burn the sets," says one as hundreds gather in NY to prevent the staging of John Adams' opera.
Saxophonist Timothy McAllister on how he won the heart of John Adams.
Peter Gelb backs down on global showing of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
The chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra doubles as a charismatic musical evangelist. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Risk-taking American opera director and rock legend win Sweden’s most prestigious music prize. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Australia’s 21st-century string quartet reveal the whiteboard of dreams and the harpsichord of shame. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
John Adams probably wouldn’t like to be hailed the Benjamin Britten of his generation any more than he likes being called a minimalist. But with his 2012 Passion oratorio based on Bach, the American composer follows Britten in proving himself not only as a master orchestrator, but also as composer of the most striking and politically potent vocal music of his time. He also has in common with his British predecessor his gravitation towards earth-shattering historical events with a deeply compassionate response to human tragedies – the September 11 threnody On the Transmigration of Souls and the respectfully handled Israel-Palestine discourse in The Death of Klinghoffer, the latter also based loosely on the Passions of Bach. This two-hour work for large forces, including cimbalom and no fewer than three counter-tenors, features a libretto (drawn from Old and New Testament and poems on faith and liberty) by Peter Sellars, who collaborated with Adams on Nixon in China and staged The Gospel last year – “told not by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, but rather according to the other John and Peter,” quipped the Los Angeles Times critic. (In fact, events are related in a fascinating new light by the mezzo-soprano soloist……
A cracking inaugural concert gives the Robertson era the look of a potential age of gold. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
Dawn Upshaw tours with the ACO after their triple grammy whammy. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
American composer-conductor John Adams leads the SSO in a concert of virtuosity, euphoria and good old fashioned fun. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in
