The John Adams Playlist

By Jacob Slattery, 20 November 2014

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Reviewed at SubCulture, New York City on 17 November 2014

Bjarnason, Bow to String

Marshall, Muddy Waters, for marimba, piano, electric guitar, bass clarinet, cello and contrabass

Mazzoli, Dissolve, O My Heart, for solo violin (New York premiere)

Bjarnason, Five Possibilities, for clarinet, cello, and piano

Andres, Early to Rise, for string quartet (New York premiere)

John Adams, Presenter

Musicians from the New York Philharmonic

The Messiaen Connection: Salonen and members of the NY Phil

Jacob Slattery, 7th March

As part of the New York Philharmonic’s CONTACT new music series at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, Esa-Pekka Salonen drew connections among Olivier Messiaen, two of his students (Pierre Boulez and George Benjamin) and one outlier (Oliver Knussen).

****1

John Adams leads Americana, past and present, with LA Phil

Néstor Castiglione, 23rd January

Compelling as a composer and conductor, Adams restored Roy Harris' Third Symphony to the Los Angeles repertoire, alongside one of his most recent works.

*****

John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra arrives at the Met

David Wolfson, 12th May

John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra puts the composer's propulsive music at the service of both moments of riveting human drama and less effective scenes of battle and politics.

****1

John Adams trumps Trump in Toronto

John Gilks, 6th November

John Adams returns to Toronto to conduct the TSO in an exciting and varied programme marked also by the debut of Spotlight Artist Anna Prohaska.

****1

An auspicious debut for John Adams at Prague Spring

Frank Kuznik, 23rd May

A capacity crowd turns out to see the doyen of American composers work his contemporary magic in the Rudolfinum.

****1

Zest and spirit in Adams' Girls of the Golden West in Los Angeles

Laurence Vittes, 27th January

John Adams' opera, in its third revision since its 2017, receives an outstanding concert performance in Walt Disney Concert Hall under the composer's baton.

****1

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Jacob Slattery

Jacob is a musician and raconteur based out of New York City. As a writer, he operates an online arts and culture blog with the goal of providing momentum for community-based arts projects in NYC. As an oboist, Jacob has performed internationally with orchestras from Vienna to Seoul. Born and raised in the lake-ridden, gopher empire of Minnesota, Jacob received a dual-degree in Music Performance and Marketing from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. His blog can be found here.

The John Adams Playlist in New York