02-05-2025
A Master of Contemporary Opera Reconsiders US Optimism
If anyone can claim to transcend the extremely niche world of contemporary classical music, it's John Adams. He has received the Pulitzer Prize for Music, five Grammys and scores of other awards. He also serves as the creative chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic; guest conducts orchestras around the world including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Niche or no, he is, as the New York Times said in a 2022 profile, arguably 'the greatest living American composer.'
For all that, Adams, 78, is not feeling particularly triumphant about his current place in the US's cultural firmament. 'I think over a two-year period, there were six different productions of Nixon in China in Germany, France and Spain, and several of Doctor Atomic ' he says in an interview, referring to two of his best-known operas. 'But I've been very frustrated at how little interest there has been in my opera in this country. You know, I consider myself an American composer and my stories are almost all about American life.'
