With a headline of "Marker leader in the opera of ideas: The US composer does not shy away from tought subject matter. But he also relishes the discipline of writing for a broad audience," Andrew Clark interviews John Adams in today's Financial Times. The article describes his upcoming opera Doctor Atomic:
The score includes a form of musique concrete -- industrial and military sounds, the sound of the weather and recordings of 1940s pop music, to be filtered through speakers round the auditorum.
The drama is set on the day before the first test of the atomic bomb. Adams says the libretto includes "real dialogue, violent arguments, and a love scene."
In broader discussion, when asked if he is a political composer, Adams hedges but says that America was founded "by religious zealots and venture capitalists. They seem to be in control as we speak." Since I work for a venture-funded company, I don't know what to make of that remark.
Talking about his career and commercialism, Adams says he was glad that at age 35, he decided to not pursue an academic career. He also takes a jab at IRCAM and what it represents by commenting that the French government "might be scandalised by a composer who has an audience."
robert gable: aworks adams culture wars era. adams: official del.icio.us wikipedia google news yahoo audio singingfish amazon. doctor atomic: official iron tongue of midnight. 2005
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