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Kumudha can transform into a flowering tree, and her sisters sell its blossoms to support their impoverished mother. A prince sees her transformation and marries her, but later demands she perform it for him; his sister’s coercion leaves Kumudha trapped between human and tree form. Years later, the remorseful prince and Kumudha reunite, and his ritual restores her to human form.
A 'space age quintet' ballet set to John Adams's 1994 Violin Concerto. The concerto's third movement had previously been performed as the separate ballet X-Ray.
John Adams’s two-act opera adapts Shakespeare’s tragedy, incorporating supplementary passages from Plutarch, Virgil and other classical texts. Its plot is not detailed here.
The opera focuses on the stress and anxiety of key Los Alamos figures preparing for the Trinity test of the first atomic bomb. Its first act is set about a month before the test; the second unfolds on the morning of 16 July 1945 and ends in the final prolonged moment before detonation.
Mary reflects on the coming birth of Jesus. After the Nativity, the work follows the visit of the Magi, Herod’s slaughter of the children, and episodes from Jesus’s early life, using biblical and other poetic texts.
A two-act opera set during the California Gold Rush, inspired by Louise Clappe’s letters from a mining settlement and other period sources, including newspaper accounts and Mark Twain’s writings.
Peter Martins's ballet uses John Adams's eponymous music. Two pianists appear in silhouette above the dancers throughout, with lighting by Mark Stanley.
Set in Los Angeles after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the song play follows seven young Americans from different social and ethnic backgrounds as they react to the disaster.
During Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, Nixon, Pat Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing, and Zhou Enlai encounter one another in public ceremonies and private conversations. Nixon and Chou Enlai exchange toasts; Pat tours Beijing and watches a revolutionary ballet, which Jiang Qing interrupts to assert her role in the Cultural Revolution. In the final act, the principals reflect on their histories and choices, while Chou Enlai questions what their actions have accomplished.
A ballet by Peter Martins set to John Adams’s 1985 concert piece, originally written for the opera Nixon in China. The music accompanies a scene in which Mao Zedong dances with his future bride, film star Chiang Ch’ing.
After choruses reflect on Palestinian and Jewish histories, the ship’s Captain recounts the hijacking of the Achille Lauro. Passengers and hijackers describe their experiences and motives. Leon Klinghoffer condemns the hijackers and is murdered offstage. After the hijackers surrender and the passengers disembark, the Captain tells Marilyn Klinghoffer of her husband’s death; she responds with grief and anger.
A two-act opera-oratorio about the final weeks of Jesus’ life and Passion, viewed through Mary of Bethany, her sister Martha and brother Lazarus. Its scenes include the supper at Bethany, Passover, the arrest of the women, Golgotha, burial and an earthquake and recognition scene.
A ballet set to John Adams's Violin Concerto, commissioned jointly by the Minnesota Orchestra and New York City Ballet. Since June 1995, it has been performed as the third movement of Peter Martins's Adams Violin Concerto ballet.
Kumudha can transform into a flowering tree, and her sisters sell its blossoms to support their impoverished mother. A prince sees her transformation and marries her, but later demands she perform it for him; his sister’s coercion leaves Kumudha trapped between human and tree form. Years later, the remorseful prince and Kumudha reunite, and his ritual restores her to human form.
A 'space age quintet' ballet set to John Adams's 1994 Violin Concerto. The concerto's third movement had previously been performed as the separate ballet X-Ray.
John Adams’s two-act opera adapts Shakespeare’s tragedy, incorporating supplementary passages from Plutarch, Virgil and other classical texts. Its plot is not detailed here.
The opera focuses on the stress and anxiety of key Los Alamos figures preparing for the Trinity test of the first atomic bomb. Its first act is set about a month before the test; the second unfolds on the morning of 16 July 1945 and ends in the final prolonged moment before detonation.
Mary reflects on the coming birth of Jesus. After the Nativity, the work follows the visit of the Magi, Herod’s slaughter of the children, and episodes from Jesus’s early life, using biblical and other poetic texts.
A two-act opera set during the California Gold Rush, inspired by Louise Clappe’s letters from a mining settlement and other period sources, including newspaper accounts and Mark Twain’s writings.
Peter Martins's ballet uses John Adams's eponymous music. Two pianists appear in silhouette above the dancers throughout, with lighting by Mark Stanley.
Set in Los Angeles after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the song play follows seven young Americans from different social and ethnic backgrounds as they react to the disaster.
During Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, Nixon, Pat Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing, and Zhou Enlai encounter one another in public ceremonies and private conversations. Nixon and Chou Enlai exchange toasts; Pat tours Beijing and watches a revolutionary ballet, which Jiang Qing interrupts to assert her role in the Cultural Revolution. In the final act, the principals reflect on their histories and choices, while Chou Enlai questions what their actions have accomplished.
A ballet by Peter Martins set to John Adams’s 1985 concert piece, originally written for the opera Nixon in China. The music accompanies a scene in which Mao Zedong dances with his future bride, film star Chiang Ch’ing.
After choruses reflect on Palestinian and Jewish histories, the ship’s Captain recounts the hijacking of the Achille Lauro. Passengers and hijackers describe their experiences and motives. Leon Klinghoffer condemns the hijackers and is murdered offstage. After the hijackers surrender and the passengers disembark, the Captain tells Marilyn Klinghoffer of her husband’s death; she responds with grief and anger.
A two-act opera-oratorio about the final weeks of Jesus’ life and Passion, viewed through Mary of Bethany, her sister Martha and brother Lazarus. Its scenes include the supper at Bethany, Passover, the arrest of the women, Golgotha, burial and an earthquake and recognition scene.
A ballet set to John Adams's Violin Concerto, commissioned jointly by the Minnesota Orchestra and New York City Ballet. Since June 1995, it has been performed as the third movement of Peter Martins's Adams Violin Concerto ballet.