"Nixon in China" - John Adams

Such energy...:)

Act I Scene 3

And one of the coolest arias ever written:

Act II Scene 2b - I'm the Wife of Mao Zedong

I really liked the Aria, but not so much the first one. Good use of rhythm, though. Good find!

Other fragments:

Act 3 [Chairman Dance]

Act I Scene 1 - News

Act II Scene 2a

John Adams is amazing, and Nixon in China proves it.

:)

When I auditioned at Boston Conservatory, it was one of the few operas that I actually knew on the test....

?:P

If you know anything about John Adams, it's not really that weird. He often writes music about recent historic events, like the hijacking of the "Achille Lauro," and most notably, the September 11 attacks.

I love John Adams, but for some reason, EVERY single time I've tried to sit and watch this opera, I've fallen asleep....

I'm particularly fond of the plane landing sequence. Seriously.

I think I prefer his orchestral works to his operas. I didn't particularly care for The Death of Klinghoffer. But that could be because of the filmed production I saw. I found it a tad pretentious, overly "docu-drama". Could be just me.

I've never heard the whole opera, but I was recently at a Stravinsky concert that opened with the Chairman Dances/Foxtrot for Orchestra, and I loved it.

"Your Flight was smooth I hope..." "Oh yes!"

Anyone ever hear his Harmonielehre? Quite a fun piece....

I'm not too huge a fan of minimalism, but I quite like Adams' works....

Anyone ever hear his Harmonielehre? Quite a fun piece....

I'm not too huge a fan of minimalism, but I quite like Adams' works....

it's one of my favourite pieces of minimalism.

I also particularly like Harmonium for chorus and orchestra.

I'll have to check it out, then :huh:....

my dad was in Philadelphia and was taken to see Harmonielehre...he liked the piece and recommended me to listen to it. So I did, and now am even more jealous of not hearing the piece live :D...

Whenever one of his operas is playing nearby I'll definitely check it out. I've only heard parts of his Nixon in China (the two parts posted above and other sections). Like I said before, I'm not a huge fan of minimalism, but when done in a certain way I'll definitely enjoy listening to it.

On the Transmigration of Souls.

A wonderful orchestral/electronic piece.

Hmm, I liked a couple of pieces from this, but at times the operatic style seemed to pretensious for the subject matter (especially for the Chinese characters).

As for his other stuff, I really like his Americana-influenced works (ie, Lollapallooza, Century Rolls), and also his more minimalistic stuff like Shaker Loops and Phrygian Gates. Really fun to listen too all around, Adams is.

I find, I find... find... that there are... there are.... I find that... I find that there are.... soooooooooooooome times, some times, times, times, times, where the, where the, I find that sometimes... where the repetition, re...re...re...re...re...pe..pe...re..pe..ti..tion... can get... can get.... can get a bit... tedious

but the music itself is just so darned hypnotic.