John Adams is "talkin’ opera" for this New Sounds. The composer reflects on his interaction with opera  - his favorite is “Einstein on the Beach” by Philip Glass. Adams finds that opera - the art form - is unique for him, and is able to convey that which cinema or video alone might not be able to do. Then there’s the process of wedding text to music, and collaborating with Peter Sellars in the text and staging, which he has done for more than 30 years. Adams reminisces about “Nixon in China”, and that “The Chairman Dances” were originally intended to be part of that opera, but never made it into the opera itself. Importantly, he prefers English in song – the American kind. Operatic diction doesn’t sound right in his work, says Adams, “Study your Stevie Wonder, Laura Nyro –what I call normal American English.” Hear a retrospective sampling of his work from "Nixon in China" to "Doctor Atomic," along with "The Flowering Tree," and a bit of his nativity oratorio, "El Nino." 

Also, listen to some of John Adams’ and Peter Sellars' latest opera, "Girls of The Golden West," which may share a topic and title with the Puccini opera, "La fanciulla del West", but little else. John Adams and Peter Sellars’ latest collaboration has gone back to source materials of 1850’s California at the height of gold rush  – 24 letters written by an east coast woman who lived for 18 months in a mining encampment – Dame Shirley.  There’s a character based on an event that happened in Downieville, CA where a Mexican woman and barmaid was the victim of a white male harasser and was hanged for stabbing him in self-defense. Other characters include a cowboy and former slave and a Chinese immigrant prostitute. According to the composer, racial and misogynist overtones just happened to overlap with current events.

The opera by John Adams and Peter Sellars, "Girls of The Golden West" premieres at the San Francisco Opera on November 21, and runs through December 10. 

Here's a companion Spotify playlist: 

PROGRAM #4036, with John Adams (First Aired: 10/17/2017)

ARTIST: Netherlands Opera
WORK: John Adams: Doctor Atomic: Chorus from final act [1:30]
RECORDING: Doctor Atomic DVD
SOURCE: Opus Arte #0998 | www.opusarte.com
INFO: From the DVD production by the Netherlands Opera.

ARTIST: John Adams
WORK: The Bride Sunk Her Face [5:46]
RECORDING: The Flowering Tree
SOURCE:  Nonesuch Records 327100
INFO: www.nonesuch.com 

ARTIST: Orchestra of St. Luke's; Uncredited Chorus | Edo de Waart, conductor
WORK: John Adams: The People Are the Heroes Now [5:09]
RECORDING: Nixon in China
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79177
INFO: www.nonesuch.com

ARTIST: John Adams
WORK: Girls of the Golden West: Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance [5:13]
RECORDING: Girls of the Golden West
SOURCE/INFO: This performance not commercially available.

ARTIST: Symphony Orchestra of Norrlands Opera |Kristjan Jarvi, cond 
WORK: John Adams: The Chairman Dances [6:07]
RECORDING: Shifting Landscapes - John Adams/Lepo Sumera
SOURCE: CCn'C 1912
INFO: Available at ArkivMusic.com

ARTIST: John Adams 
WORK: John Adams: The Christmas Star [6:46]
RECORDING: El Nino (A Nativity Oratorio)
SOURCE: Nonesuch #79634
INFO: www.nonesuch.com