![]() ![]() And yet, for god only knows what reason, John Adams continues to garner accolades wherever he goes. They are not meritorious but meretricious that is to say, they claim to strike a pose of musical innovation and progressive politics, yet endlessly repeat tired formulas of musical minimalism and equivocate on most of the political issues they evoke. To me, his works are built mainly on pretence. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: John Adams may be the most over-rated composer in today’s world. ![]() Bouncy propulsive rhythms repeated endlessly in minimalist fashion and overly percussive orchestration get old fast. I caught the second performance of this turkey on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and black indeed was my mood after sitting through three and a half hours of this bloated, self-indulgent opera from a composer who merely recycled all his familiar-and often irritating - musical tics. Whatever one’s expectations might have been, Girls of the Golden West turned out to be a real turkey, a half-cooked one at that. Two days before Thanksgiving, San Francisco Opera unveiled the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West, the new opera by John Adams it commissioned in partnership with Dallas Opera and Dutch National Opera.
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